The Almost Man (FILM REVIEW)
The Almost Man
(Mir Eller Mindre Mann)
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Unplanned Pregnancy Pressures Sophomoric Slacker to Mature in Scandinavian
Social Satire
Henrik Sandvik
(Henrik Rafaelsen) is a slacker who’s never had to grow up. The 35 year-old
underachiever is still doted on by a helicopter mom (Anne Ma Usterud) willing
to wait on him hand-and-foot.
His equally-immature BFFs
are the same guys he’s hung around since high school. Their boorish behavior
ranges from snapping towels on each other in locker room showers, to getting wasted
at parties where they proceed to pee off the balcony, flick their boogers, and
engage in fistfights and homoerotic horseplay.
None of the above
sits well with Henrik’s girlfriend, Tone (Janne
Heltberg Haarseth), given how she recently learned that
she’s expecting a baby. Her hope is that her beau will finally grow up, now
that he’s on the brink of becoming a father. But that might prove easier said
than done, considering that his favorite book is Peter Pan.
The impending arrival
of the couple’s bundle of joy lurks over the horizon in The Almost Man, a
sublime social satire written and directed by Martin Lund. Unfolding against
the backdrop of a variety of visually-captivating Norwegian settings, the film focuses
mostly on Tone’s escalating frustrations with Henrik, even after he grudgingly takes
a confining corporate job.
It’s not enough that he’s
bringing home the bacon, when he blames a temptress he’s caught kissing for having
seduced him. He even has the temerity to suggest that Tone have an abortion. But
that ain’t happening.
And with only a few months
to make over a philanderer who freely admits that “I’m not sure how to behave,”
the mad mommy-to-be has her work cut out for her. Will Tone run out of patience
before reluctant Henrik is ready to accept his responsibilities?
A droll dramedy examining
the male metamorphosis from bachelor to family man.
Very Good
(3 stars)
Unrated
In Norwegian with subtitles
Running time: 77 minutes
Distributor: Big
World Pictures
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