It is normal to think of documentaries as being about particular subjects or people of note, but there is a sub-genre where really it is about getting a peek into other lives, many of which may be odder than your own. This type of film can be called a quirkumentary because it is essentially focusing on that oddity; such films can do this in a cruel way, but the best manage to get the viewer inside the quirk and meet the people – and it is this aspect that Reinvention of Normal does well, and thus succeeds. The subject is Dominic Wilcox, an artist and inventor who sets out to force himself to be creative, and try to invent and test things daily – not all useful perhaps, but he is constantly trying to stimulate and inspire himself to think and create.
For those of us with jobs, the idea of a man seeing how good a smoothie he can make by putting fruit inside a football is perhaps a nonsense that seem like a luxury, but the film helps capture Wilcox's sense of wonder at the world and his desire to try things out rather than just accepting it. There is a certain childlike wonder to him which I found quite infectious – the best example being him wondering what happens if the noise from different directions enters into the "wrong" ear. The film plays this out with nice contributions from him, footage of him playing around with lo- fi creations, and some nice little animations.
Generally the tone is one of light bemusement, which fits well with Wilcox, since this curious bemusement seems to be something he actively seeks as part of his process. The film doesn't tell us much about him or how he lives his life, so ultimately it doesn't amount to a great deal, but it is brisk and amusing anyway.