What a time to be alive and a witness to Bob Odenkirk, the Badass Years.

The “Mr. Show” alumnus and ex-“Saturday Night Live” writer, a bit player on every sitcom from “Seinfeld” to “How I Met Your Mother” tapped into something dark and capable of violence with his supporting turn on the breakout series “Breaking Bad.”

Let the murderous mayhem begin as “Better Call Saul” begat “Nobody” and “Nobody 2” and now a tale of a “Normal” town gone in a “Minnesota Nice” way.

Based on “Fargo Lite” story pitch by writer/actor Bob, “Normal” is a conventionally unconventional thriller about an “interim sheriff,” “sort of like a substitute teacher/a midwife with a gun,” hired the duly elected Normal County sheriff dies under circumstances no local seems to find all that unusual.

Turns out, this “half-abandoned” town with mostly-armed citizens has an ace in the hole keeping it afloat. The Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) are stashing their American profits in cash and gold in the local bank.

No nooo, there’s nothing suspicious about those two Japanese bank guards (Peter Shinkoda plays one). The mayor (Henry Winkler) is a big fan of the temp sheriff’s “light touch” — warnings, not tickets, “let’s not get involved” is a rule of thumb.

“I get to say ‘Nothing to see here” over and over again,” Sheriff Ulysses narrates in a long letter to his estranged wife Penny.

That’s the framing/expositional device here. How’d this guy work his way down the law enforcement ladder to a series of temp jobs? When did he stop giving a damn, and why? And what might make him give a damn again?

Could it be the blunt and brassy bar owner (Lena Heady)? Maybe the dead sheriff’s non-binary daughter Alex (Jess MCleod), who seems to be the only one really upset about dad’s death.

“This town used to know right from wrong.”

The tipping point comes when Temp Sheriff Ulysses (Bobby O. was feeling his oats when he came up with that name for his character) tries to de-escalate a bank robbery committed by two homeless drifters (Reena Jolly and Brendan Fletcher) whom he knows dote on their dog.

His politically ambitious top deputy (Ryan Allen) is the one who leads the town’s shootists in their fusilade of the bank and the sticking-his-nose-in-their-business “interim” sheriff.

The movie’s set-up isn’t the most original or surprising. And the story beats that follow this bank stand-off — discovering the vast arsenal that the “department” has stockpiled, just waiting for all hell to break loose, the assorted cute local “types” who turn gun nutty when provoked by Ulysses’ interference and the ticking clock counting down until the murderous top dog of the yakuza (Takahiro Inoue) lands, having flown in to see what the hell is going on with his ill-gotten gains on deposit — don’t deviate from formula.

The Minnesooooooota “types” aren’t as broadly or adorably drawn as those in “Fargo,” even if the violence is on a snowy par with the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece. And the “letter” narration is borderline lazy as a framing device.

But there’s witty banter about bank robberies in a “just tap your card” society — “Nobody uses cash any more.” And director Ben Wheatley (“Free Fire” and “Sightseers” were his) knows his way around a shoot-out, punch-out, snowplow chase or what have you.

One film fan’s “predictable” can be a lot of filmgoers’ comfort food. And kudos to Odenkirk’s personal trainer. After all, why should Liam Neeson, Jackie Chan and Denzel get all the AARP badass roles?

Rating: R, graphic violence, profanity throughout

Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Ryan Allen, Reena Jolly, Billy MacLellan, Jess McLeod, Peter Shinkoda, Takahiro Inoe, Henry Winkler and Lena Heady

Credits: Directed by Ben Wheatley, scripted Derek Kolstad and Bob Odenkirk (story). A Magnolia release.

Running time: 1:31