Normal Life (1996)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Good movie but grossly overrated

Fantastic!

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Yes, negative review here and sure I know, based on a true story, but there are countless true stories out there that actually lead somewhere. The filmmakers thought there was something to be said here, Myself I'm not so sure. Here we get a pair of unstable and socially inept human beings that possess a twisted "love" for one another and we are asked, by way of the filmmaking tone and approach, to sympathize with their "plight". Problem is it was impossible (for me) to warm up to these two even in the slightest. Were the character's interesting? No, not in today's light. Obviously I'm in the minority here as most of the reviews posted loved this film. Now I enjoy nihilism as much as the next person, but this film's attempt to play on one's heartstrings was lost on me here, especially as the music turned sad and sappy at the finale with the pair's predictable fate. A better approach, without sacrificing much in the way of Hollywood's "true story" element, would have been to have celebrated law enforcement's part in protecting the public from their criminal existence, at the very least I'm sure the pair's neighbor's would like to thank the police.

Good cop marries unstable woman. Through financial difficulties he is led to a life of bank robbery - a modern day Bonnie & Clyde.Ashley Judd and Luke Perry both act very well. How come I never heard of it? I am a fan of hers. Luke is quite suited to the role he doesn't look ill at ease as he did in some post 90210 movies. Actually haven't seen him in such a dramatic role before. Ashley is quite lovely and plays this screwed up trashy complex character quite well. She shows range. Quite moving and it is timely given the recession now. Kind of a fable of the American dream gone wrong. A modern day American tragedy. Based on a true story - so the plot is realistically bizarre. Quite touching and intense. Watch it. This movie should have been more famous.

This movie is supposed to be a Bonnie & Clyde type vehicle, but it is much more an almost student project to showcase the actors, especially Ashley Judd's, acting range. It is _slow_. It takes almost the first half of the movie to get started, which is not good, as movies should grab you within the first minute. Anyway, Ashley Judd is impressive as the schizophrenic girl with the undoubtedly abusive past, who falls for Luke Perry. As someone who hasn't had the displeasure of watching 90210, I only know Luke Perry as a rather disconcertingly ordinary looking fellow who also played in "Riot". Ashley Judd is impressive, although she is naked a lot and not really into lesbianism at all. However, whatever there is of a story is way too slow to get started and when it does, is too predictable.

One night while living in New Zealand I was flicking around all 3 channels that we got when I stopped on this movie...due to the stat-laden cast. Luke Perry and Ashley Judd. I was sold, well until I watched it. The movie would have been a total loss were it not for the lightspeed sex scenes. From start to finish they lasted around 30 seconds, as Perry humped away like a first-time teen. The frequency of these short encounters was also an added plus. I was able to put up with his mustache just in hopes of seeing more ridiculous sex scenes. I guess it was his years of bedroom romance on 90210 that tought him how to make love like a real man.