CIFF: Norman

By Rob Christopher in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 7, 2010 5:20PM

This is part of Chicagoist's coverage of the Chicago International Film Festival.

Yes, this is the movie that Andrew Bird scored. Contrary to listener expectations, Norman is (thankfully) not a twee wisp of psuedo-Wes Anderson whimsy. Rather it’s an entertaining, if uneven, attempt to depict just how perplexing adolescence can be.

“Satire is not to be confused with irony,” says an English professor in the movie’s first scene. The film’s title character, a beclouded teenager played most affectingly by Dan Byrd, makes a different mistake: he confuses sarcasm with sincerity. Like his father, who is in the final stages of terminal stomach cancer, he thinks that by facing life with an arsenal of scornful wit he’s facing it honestly.

When he tells a lie in a moment of weakness, leading everyone at school to believe that he's dying of cancer, it’s only a matter of time before he learns what honesty really means. The story is told with moments of insight and warmth, nicely capturing teen awkwardness, including Norman’s romance with Emily (Emily Parrish), a girl who’s able to see underneath his facade and likes him for who he actually is. And the scenes between Norman and his dad (Richard Jenkins, in yet another wonderful performance) are really something special. Father and son have a palpable bond all the more heartrendingly real because you feel it slipping away.

Unfortunately the plot’s main event, i.e. Norman’s lie, hovers uncomfortably over the action--you just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. When Norman finally fesses up to his falsehood it’s followed by a happy ending that feels artificial and unearned, leaving a sour taste. Where are the inevitable consequences of just “being yourself”? Regardless, Andrew Bird contributes a gentle score that somehow doesn’t cross over into mawkishness, despite an abundance of whistling.

Norman screens October 8, 17, and 19.