Ashley Jones Is Perfectly Normal

Life isn't about being perfect. Or normal. Or perfectly normal. Just ask Ashley Jones. After waking up with a bizarre, yet hilarious case of "foreign accent syndrome", our heroine embarks upon a strangely-relatable quest for happiness and self-worth. Everyone is different and thus, everyone has their own version of normal. And that version of normal is what adds color and joy to our lives. It's what makes us valuable in a world that pressures us to bland in and play it safe. Oh, I meant "blend".

Writer Kevin Stock and Director Thomas Bangert present a comedy that will elicit both laughter and contemplation from their audience. And Hana Yuka Sano's performance as Ashley is charming, yet brilliantly complex.

From Ashley's strange "malady" to meeting a 500,000 year old woman, to bantering with the sassy narrator (also voiced by Stock), this film is far from normal. It's different. And that's what makes it so wonderful.

This film is relatable as it conveys a deep message about identity and individuality through a quirky story. From the whimsical music to the candid narration, Ashley Jones is Perfectly Normal contains a light hearted energy and a type of comedy that can be enjoyed by most. Having laugh-out-loud moments involving a predictable waiter to Ashley Jones tasking herself with obtaining numbers from party strangers, this movie can classify itself as positively playful. The characters are uniquely comedic as they cleverly represent what conformity looks like in today's society. To include, Ashley Jones is a breath of fresh air as it provides more representation by having a Japanese lead actress.

This is a story about Ashley and how she suddenly becomes "not normal". The resulting situation is full of conflict and takes you through a range of emotions. Hana Yuka Sano, who plays Ashley, artfully conveys the character's sensitivity and beauty and her performance draws the viewer in.

Or Pushing Daisies, or The Crazy Ex Girlfriend.

The entire time I was watching the movie, I couldn't help but to think about those 3 references. Unfortunately, we are faaaar away from this level, for the following reasons:

• The acting is terrible, so much so that the main actress sometimes forget to act like the condition she has.

• The storyline makes absolutely no sense- well actually there is none from the moment she has her diagnosis.

• It is not cute, nor funny, or teaching you anything, or making you think about anything.

• The scenes where she is imagining things (hello crazy ex girlfriends fans) are too long, too lousy, then end up being the reality...? They lost me more than once on those stuff.

I have watched it a few days ago and I am still sitting here, wondering: what was this movie about? If you are adventurous, go watch and find out. If not, please spare yourself 90 minutes of your life time.

Ashley Jones is Perfectly Normal is a movie about accepting what makes you different and what others may see as flaws, and flourishing despite all of the obstacles that may arise because of those differences. The tasteful race humor and moments of elegant writing bring a relatability desperately needed for a film such as this to work. Despite stumbling through pacing and formatting at some points, Ashley Jones is Perfectly Normal manages to craft an enjoyable family experience that both entertains and presents an important theme.