Norberto’s Deadline

Written and directed by Daniel Hendler, Norberto’s Deadline follows the title character (Hendler) as he spontaneously decides to join a drama club – where he inevitably finds himself fitting in for the first time in his life. It’s a workable premise that’s squandered from the word go by Hendler, as the first-time filmmaker proves utterly unable to turn his sad-sack character into a figure worthy of the viewer’s interest or sympathy. The movie, which has clearly been designed to come off as an old-school character study, boasts a hopelessly meandering structure that ultimately exacerbates its various problems, and there’s little doubt that the viewer is forced to wait patiently for something (anything) of interest to occur (which never happens, by the way). It’s also worth nothing that Hendler’s decision to sporadically emphasize the laughably pretentious exploits of Norberto’s drama club proves disastrous, as such interludes effectively infuse the proceedings with a decidedly amateurish vibe that contributes to the movie’s overall atmosphere of pointlessness. Of course, it might have been easy to overlook such concerns had Hendler bothered developing Norberto beyond his most superficial attributes – yet the character remains so one-dimensional that the viewer is left scratching their head when his wife eventually leaves him. The drab, dreary visual style employed by the director cements Norberto’s Deadline‘s place as a seriously underwhelming piece of work, and it’s nothing short of stunning to discover that the film is described as, among other things, “witty,” “inspiring,” and “hilarious” (!) in TIFF’s program guide.

1/2* out of ****