Herman

Comparable in some ways to "My Life As a Dog," the new coming-of-age Norwegian film "Herman" is alternately light-hearted and sad, with an eccentric central character.

The result is enjoyable, but the film never quite manages to build the necessary emotions to make it very memorable.

Set in the '50s, the filmmakers do a very good job of setting up the period and evoking the necessary nostalgia (much better than Mel Gibson's "The Man Without a Face," which has trouble initially establishing 1968).

Young Herman is afflicted with alopecia areata, a disease that causes him to lose his hair, and this, along with his inherently odd outlook on life, make him something of an outcast and source of derision for his cruel classmates.

So, Herman consoles himself with fantasies — conversations with and advice from both his late grandfather and his fictional hero, "Zorro."

Herman also ponders whether to climb that great construction crane on which his father works. Dad is encouraging him to do so, but he is, naturally, reluctant.

Like the "Peanuts" character Charlie Brown, Herman also has in his class a "little red-haired girl," whom he admires from afar. Ruby will eventually befriend him and, with her wild head of gorgeous hair, inspire him as well.

All of this is enjoyable but never particularly revealing, so that we know as little about Herman when the film ends as we do when it begins.

Director Erik Gustavson doesn't seem to be going for either high-strung melodramatics or irony or whimsy. In fact, just what he is going for is rather vague.

In fact, the film's main asset is the young actor playing Herman, Anders Danielson Lie, whose performance and natural screen charm carry the picture as far as it goes. The trouble is, it doesn't go far.

"Herman" is not rated but is certainly in PG territory for some mild schoolyard violence and some mild vulgarity.