Is Bob Odenkirk “Nobody” or is he “Normal”? The continual self-effacement of his characters in his recent action hero era is something he and screenwriter Derek Kolstad will have to take up with a psychotherapist, but the latest installment in their “Surprise! Bob Odenkirk kills people!” micro-genre is “Normal,” a title that indicates nothing normal at all is about to happen on screen.

What even is “normal” anyway? Here, in the film directed by Ben Wheatley, it’s the name of a quintessential American small town in Minnesota, where Ulysses Richardson (Odenkirk) is serving a temporary shift as interim sheriff after the death of the previous occupant of the office. He’s somewhat delighted by the Norman Rockwell-esque scene he walks into, as he details in extensive voicemails to his estranged wife that serve as a voice-over narration.

But Ulysses’ words don’t match what we see on screen (or the prologue set in an Osaka yakuza meeting). He extols how nice and, yes, normal everything seems, while simultaneously clocking the details amiss in his office, like the well-stocked, unlocked armory, and the death certificate for the deceased Sheriff Gunderson (Pat Harris, seen only in photographs).

That’s right, Gunderson, the name made famous by that other Minnesota noir, the Coen brothers’ 1996 hit “Fargo,” for which Frances McDormand won an Oscar playing a very pregnant police chief, Marge Gunderson. But the thing about overtly referencing a film as funny and deft as “Fargo” is that it’s only going to make us think about “Fargo,” so your film better be just as funny and deft, or at least come close. Alas, “Normal” does not.

“Fargo” found its humor in the juxtaposition between “Minnesota Nice” and the dark, criminal underbelly it explored. “Normal” tries to do the same, but is unsuccessful in this endeavor. No one even attempts the accent, and a few kitschy phrases are not going to cut it, not even from supporting stars like Henry Winkler and Lena Headey.

“Normal” is born not just of the Coens but Tarantino too. Wheatley’s earlier work, especially his 2017 picture “Free Fire,” is steeped in the snarky hyper-violence Tarantino pioneered. “Normal” sits exactly in that “Free Fire” zone of excessive gunplay punctuated by needle drops and ironic expressions.

There’s another DNA strand provided by screenwriter Kolstad, who penned “John Wick” and the unlikely action hero vehicles “Nobody” and “Nobody 2” for Odenkirk, who has a story credit on “Normal.” Kolstad seems to be writing the same screenplay over and over — nice guy reluctantly proves he’s got a set of very particular skills — but here incorporates those '90s references, borrowing the setting of “Fargo” and the Japanese inspiration of Tarantino’s “Kill Bill,” bringing the yakuza to Minnesota. That’s the town-wide secret that the outsider sheriff hasn’t uncovered yet, even though he can smell that something’s not quite right.

It’s also a little bit like “The Wicker Man” (1973), in which a closed community with a strange new way of sustaining themselves summons whom they believe to be a hapless policeman to serve as a fall guy of sorts. But Ulysses is sharper than they expected, and better with a gun than anyone, by far. This is one of those endeavors that has absolutely no danger and no stakes because you never believe that our hero is in danger (“The Wicker Man” at least had the guts to do that).

The Rube Goldberg machine of a plot is kicked off when a down-on-their-luck couple rob the local bank, setting off a series of a events that will result in a snowy, nightlong standoff, with the whole town turning on Ulysses, who teams up with the robbers, and then Sheriff Gunderson’s orphaned kid Alex (Jess McLeod). Fire and ice do clash beautifully, but the action here is merely serviceable, and dark.

You can set your watch to the predictable clockwork of this (blessedly) 90-minute script: at 40 minutes the violence kicks off, at an hour Ulysses experiences a surprising betrayal. Everything’s explained again and again whether in narration or speeches, but there isn’t much to take away except that one shouldn’t use loaded weapons as decor in a restaurant — alas, this movie takes place in the good old U.S. of A.

The irony and meaninglessness of the violence rankles, especially when Ulysses is presented as such a nice guy who is prone to de-escalation and community care in his day-to-day work. Wouldn’t this character be aghast at the amount of random citizens taken out in these endless firefights? Instead he just reaches for some pie. This desensitized bloodshed might feel frighteningly apathetic, but the alternative, searching for answers in a film about law enforcement accidentally gunning down citizens of Minnesota, isn’t preferable at all, dontcha know.

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'NORMAL'

2 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for strong bloody violence, and language)

Running time: 1:30

How to watch: In theaters April 17

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