Norman: Film Review

MONTREAL -- Coming-of-age tales have been done and done again, but Jonathan Segal's Norman delivers a bracing twist on the genre: The alienated adolescent of the title, a goodhearted smart aleck of a nerd, fakes having cancer and is left to reconcile his rising social stock with a guilty conscience. The film built around Norman's brazen bit of acting out is uneven -- a strong, fresh first half is followed by a dismayingly earnest second. But there's enough that is winning and sharp to hold you until the end, even as you're disappointed by the direction the film takes.