AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The_Film_Cricket There is a theory about misguided, abused women that with a little patience and understanding that he can somehow be just exactly the savior she needs. That would apply to Chris Anderson (Luke Perry), who meets such a woman in a bar one night after she has a fight with her boyfriend. Her name is Pam (Ashley Judd) and she cuts herself but he asks her to dance anyway. They fall in love, move in together and get married. He is so obsessed by her that we sense that he would do anything to make her happy.This is not an easy task since Pam is not always a pleasant person. She is a hateful manic-depressive, who has had suicide attempts, drinks too much and dreams of falling through a black hole. She is always seeming to want to push Chris' button just to see how much he can take. The role of savior seems to keep him from strangling her. He will stick this out no matter what.He loses his job as a police officer and eventually turns to robbing banks in order to fulfill her needs (namely spending his money hand over fist) and his own. She is excited about the idea that he has turned to crime. Finally, he has found something that makes her happy.The movie was directed by John McNaughton who specializes in films about people drawn to the other side of the law. He made the far darker 'Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer' but in both films we see people who for one reason or another must commit crimes, not for the money but for the need to do so.The movie is nothing without the performance of Ashley Judd who does a complete turn around from her equally great performance in 'Ruby in Paradise'. There she was a sweet woman looking to be independent. Here, (in a role many actresses would have turned down), she plays a rather nasty, disturbed woman who found a puppet who is willing to dance for her.

Christopher Mercurio I'm surprised to see so many positive reviews for this movie. This is the first movie I've seen in a while with no redeeming qualities. It's a shame that I caught this yesterday afternoon on TV. I wasted time watching this garbage when I could've just watched something else.The protagonist of the story is Chris Anderson portrayed by Luke Perry. Anderson is a good cop and overall a good guy. One night he meets a young attractive blonde in a bar. Always a great place to find the girl of your dreams. She's screaming and cursing (what a dream) at some guy who was lucky enough to get out of there. Anderson on the other hand isn't so lucky. He approaches the woman who has cut her hand from a broken glass. Anderson plays the knight in shining armor and helps her. They have a slow dance and she tells him her name is Pam. From the start, Anderson should've known there was something up with this dame. Don't get me wrong, Ashley Judd is a beautiful woman, blonde or brunette. But once you get to know Pam you'll wish you didn't. Anderson drops Pam off home and he decides to see her again. The more the movie goes on, Anderson gets to know Pam and the movie makes less and less sense.Pam's behavior gets more and more neurotic and you realize along with Anderson that Pam is damaged goods. But for some reason, he loves her and wants to help her. Chris ends up asking Pam to be his wife.He never really does help her. He just keeps beating a dead horse. Our idealistic cop turns into a complete idiot. He takes someone who is mentally ill and completely out of it. He thinks that by marrying her and making her his wife that is going to help her. Not only does Chris do nothing about her illness, he also turns a blind eye while she does drugs and drinks. As the marriage goes on, Pam gets sicker and Chris gets dumber. Pam goes to the store to buy a special telescope to view an eclipse. Instead she comes home with a knife. Instead of being worried he's angry that she spent $500. He comes home one night and sees that she has cut herself all over. His solution is to buy her a dog. Whenever Chris has Pam around his family it is obvious that she doesn't know how to interact with people. Chris gets mad and yells at her. When Anderson's father dies he tells Pam to get a dress and make sure that she's there. Pam shows up at the funeral parlor dressed like she's ready to go roller blading. Still Chris does absolutely nothing to help her. This is the woman in trouble that he was going to save and he doesn't have a clue.The couple have financial trouble and they are barely able to live in the shack they're in. Chris loses his job as a cop and we are never told why. Later Pam loses her job because of her drug use. Chris comes home to find Pam with a gun to her head. By now, Anderson has to be a complete idiot to not see that his wife is suicidal. What does he do? He continues to leave her alone and tends to their money problems by becoming a bank robber. Like I said, as the movie goes on it makes less and less sense. There is even a ludicrous ending. Why bother to continue? This movie is very difficult to watch. Whoever made this has to be either crazy or just stupid. Poor Ashley Judd, who has a great body, is stuck shedding her clothes for no good reason. I've never seen a movie with such unnecessary nudity. Ashley Judd is filmed naked in many scenes just for the sake of being shown naked. Whoever made this movie must have something wrong with them.I'm sorry I ever saw this movie. I hope I never come across it again. I almost didn't even want to waste my time writing a review, but I figured others should be warned. Don't even waste your time on this garbage. Ashley Judd fans especially should stay clear of this. The very talented and very attractive Ashley Judd is wasted. Actually, she is exploited. Luke Perry fans should stay clear of this too. Sometimes it looked like he was giving a decent performance when he was yelling, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was really yelling because he was sorry he got stuck making such a horrible and worthless movie. Stay clear of this trash.

CMUltra Normal Life is simply about the illogical love Chris (Luke Perry) has for Pam (Ashley Judd).From the love-at-first-sight moment you know his attraction is there but, other than the physical appeal, you can't understand why. The first time he sees her, she's drunk and having a fight with what seems to be her boyfriend. She smashes a glass and cuts her hand. She's definitely attractive (Judd always is) so Chris overlooks her odd behavior and plays the knight in shining armor role as he tends to her cut.The attraction is immediately so strong that he tracks her down at her workplace to see her again. He's a cop. When he sees her the second time she's sitting in her car outside her job smoking pot. He overlooks this as well and they go to an isolated area to lie in the grass and look at the stars. She's heavy into astronomy.She initiates sex with him and, during the intercourse, he innocently says she's "crazy." She goes berserk, breaks off the copulation, runs screaming to her car and very nearly runs him over. He explains that he meant nothing bad by the comment and, once again, accepts her behavior.This is the theme that continues. No matter what Pam does, Chris loves her. He's not blind. He recognizes Pam's attitudinal deficiencies and points them out to her. He struggles to help her change and become a better person. But when she doesn't change he must either leave her or change himself to fit her life. He does the latter.Chris is not only a cop when the movie begins but also a straight arrow. He does not condone cutting corners, or police brutality. However he ignores his strict code of ethics when he finds Pam smoking pot the first time. That lets us know right away that, while he will try to change her, he is willing to sacrifice all of his personal standards to be with her. By the end of the movie he is a bank robber and a murderer.Normal Life is a neat snapshot of what folks like Chris go through when they allow another person to become the end-all, be-all of their life. They begin to define their own life by the other person. They do not have the strength to let go. Some glimpses of Chris' parents are given but it is incomplete. We do not know if the family is truly dysfunctional or if there are difficulties exacerbated by his father's illness.Perry was enjoyable as Chris. He played the character with a realistic edge. Chris was typically reserved and soft-spoken but Perry made it clear that there was high tension underneath.Judd (one of my favorite actresses) was not so adept with Pam. In order to portray hysteria I think you have to go there, otherwise the acting is painfully obvious. That's what I saw here. In other scenes she did fine as she took Pam along the edge of a normal life. When Pam needed to turn on the charm, Judd excelled. The further Pam went the other direction, the more the performance suffered.

LeeLarch It's no Set It Off. It's no Thelma and Louise. The whole thing smelled of an A&E cable movie or at best, a CBS made for TV movie. The whole time I was asking myself and the television set. Why doesn't he get rid of that woman. When he bought the house, that was the last straw. It wasn't entirely painful to watch, but certain people should stick to 90210.