If Alexander Payne ever decided to make a Judd Apatow film, it would look somewhat like The Almost Man. Henrik, played by Henrik Rafaelson, is a 35-year-old man-child (with an uncanny resemblance to Jason Segel) who starts acting out passive-aggressively, sometimes to hysterical effect and sometimes to sobering effect. when he moves in with his pregnant girlfriend, Tone (Janne Heltberg Haarseth).

She, of course, is stunning. Because in these films if you are somewhat handsome yet slightly doughy, a beautiful woman will so appreciate your sense of humor that she will sleep with you. His best friends are all partying past their expiration date, and Henrik has to make a choice. In lesser films, the freewheeling friends would be pressuring him to spend more time with them, to lighten up, etc. It’s to The Almost Man’s credit that Henrik is solely responsible for digging his own hole.

The joy of watching this film is from the characterizations. Henrik is a genuinely affectionate partner who, with humor, pushes his girlfriend just past the breaking point. So, there’s an edge to their relationship where humor can switch very quickly to resentment. Henrik doesn’t ever talk seriously and when he does, he tries to explain his feelings while pointing in the air and then finishing with “I mean it.” Tone is exasperated. “You mean what?”  The response? “All the things I was pointing at.” Tone knows she has a good man and simultaneously encourages his playfulness while gently nudging him to maturity. Each of Henrik’s circle of friends has enough charm and charisma to carry a film of his own. In toto, the performances are superb.

The Almost Man is slight (it runs just shy of 80 minutes), but it knows where it’s going and gives you a nice, pleasant journey getting there with more than a few laugh-out-loud moments and some slightly, but not overwhelmingly, disturbing ones.