Overwiew :When sweet, straitlaced cop Chris Anderson (Luke Perry) and his self-destructive, live-wire wife, Pam (Ashley Judd), begin to experience financial difficulties, Chris secretly turns to a life of crime to pay the bills. Chris becomes so good at robbing banks that he and his troubled spouse are soon living in the lap of luxury. Pam discovers his new line of work just when he wants to get out--and she wants in.
Director John McNaughton, who previously used well-known actors playing against type with great results in MAD DOG AND GLORY, once again adds emotional depth and satiric bite to his film by casting Judd and Perry--both at the height of their status as 1990s icons of youth and beauty--in the lead roles. The young stars' glamorous veneer gets burned away by the directorial skills of the man responsible for HENRY PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER, and Judd and Perry--perfect as the struggling young couple longing for nothing more than a normal, happy, suburban existence--help make NORMAL LIFE a compellingly ironic broken-mirror reflection of the American dream.
