Bob Odenkirk's Underrated 2026 Action Movie Is A Must-Watch On HBO Max

Bob Odenkirk's late-career action endeavors have been pretty impressive. 2026's "Normal" is no different and is available to stream on HBO Max right now. 

Typically, when a well-established star makes a career turn towards action movies of a certain kind, it's a bad omen. The Old Man Liam Neeson action oeuvre, for example, has given us some great films, but on the whole it's been one "Taken" clone after another. So, when Odenkirk suddenly emerged as a John Wick-esque badass in 2021's "Nobody," it didn't seem like the most auspicious development.

Thankfully, the film turned out to be more than your standard action B-movie. /Film's Chris Evangelista might have dismissed "Nobody" as a disappointing "John Wick" clone, and in many ways it was. But that wasn't necessarily surprising considering the movie was written by "John Wick" scribe Derek Kolstad and produced by "John Wick" co-director David Leitch, whose 87North Productions also oversaw Odenkirk's action debut. Despite the unmistakable John Wick stamp, however, "Nobody" at least tried to have some fun with Odenkirk's everyman aura and apparent lack of action bonafides, giving it an edge over your typical Jason Statham-style hardman outing.

Then, in 2026, Odenkirk and Kolstad re-teamed for another mundanely-titled actioner in "Normal." This time, Leitch was out, and Odenkirk was a little more than a secretly invincible suburban dad. Instead, "Normal" sees him play a world-weary sheriff who's forced to contend with a small-town conspiracy — which is basically an excuse for him to shoot and blow stuff up. One of the big wildcards here, however, is director Ben Wheatley, who brings something entirely new to the table by adding an extra layer of black comedy to proceedings.

Derek Kolstad made his name with the "John Wick" franchise and continued to pump out action movies after departing the saga following 2019's "John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum." In fact, all his post-Wick films have featured Bob Odenkirk, beginning with "Nobody" and its 2025 sequel — the violent and fun follow-up "Nobody 2." For "Normal," however, the actor and writer tried to switch things up somewhat, adding more of a mystery-psychological-thriller aspect to their movie and bringing in director Ben Wheatley.

The British filmmaker has overseen multiple indie films that have become cult classics, from 2011's "Kill List" to the stylish Tom Hiddleston-led dystopian nightmare "High Rise." He was also responsible for the silly shark sequel with no bite, "Meg 2: The Trench." Thankfully, he left much of that silliness behind for "Normal," which sees Odenkirk play the interim Sheriff of the titular Minnesota town.

After the previous sheriff dies of hypothermia, the town of Normal hires Odenkirk's Ulysses as a temporary replacement. Once there, Ulysses starts to become suspicious when he learns just how well off the small town actually is. Soon he discovers the reason why, and it's a doozy. Turns out Normal has some backing from the most unlikely source, and Odenkirk's sheriff finds himself in the position of knowing more than he should. When he becomes a target, he's forced to team up with two bank robbers (played by Reena Jolly and Brendan Fletcher) to fight his way out of a place he thought would provide a much-needed respite. Henry Winkler appears as the town's mayor, and Lena Headey also plays a friendly bartender with a secret.

In "Nobody," Bob Odenkirk's beleaguered office drone turned out to be the exact opposite of the title. In "Normal," it's the town that's hiding its true nature, and Odenkirk has no secret experience as a trained assassin to fall back on. That doesn't mean the movie is short on impressive action scenes, though. One in which Odenkirk goes to work with a meat tenderizer springs to mind. But it's the mix of satire, a neo-Western tone, and Ben Wheatley's unique sensibility that really set "Normal" apart from Odenkirk's previous actioners and the typical John Wick clone in general. In fact, we at /Film were excited about Normal since learning that Odenkirk was teaming up with Wheatley.

Critics certainly seemed impressed by the film's unusual combination of styles. The movie currently has a 77% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on a very healthy 162 reviews. Aside from Odenkirk's perennially appealing everyman aura, reviewers commended Derek Kolstad for his script, with Danny Leigh of the Financial Times describing it as "clever enough to land as satire" while also making for "a cheerfully gonzo midnight movie." The Times' Kevin Maher, meanwhile, praised Wheatley for "never los[ing] sight of the sheriff's humanity," and G. Allen Johnson of the San Francisco Chronicle went as far as to write, "Liam Neeson, eat your heart out."

"Normal" is available on HBO Max as of August 14, 2026, and will no doubt make its chart debut over the weekend — deservedly so. The movie is well worth a watch and is fresh enough that "Nobody" fans won't feel like they're watching the same film over again.