yorktown_hawk

I'll preface this by saying that I only watched this movie to see the very brief performance of one of the cast.

Having never seen a Danish film and knowing nothing about this film going in, I couldn't help but feel like I was watching a mishmash of Requiem for a Dream (2000) and Trainspotting (1996) in a more traditional European type movie structure.

While US/UK movies usually follow the same structure (Sizzling start. Backfill, pebble, rock, boulder, conclusion) that starts with a bang before slowly building the drama/action/tension as the movie goes on, this movie took a more nuanced, straight-line structure with an intricate move from one storyline to the next that can keep the watcher engaged despite their being minimal action or drama. I didn't mind this structure albeit being one I'm not used to. It gave the feel of the movie a more realistic touch.

However, there were far too many similarities between this movie and the 2 mentioned above, as has been mentioned by other reviewers. Since those movies came out 5 and 9 years prior to this one, you cannot say the similarities were accidental. Especially when the main music composition was almost a plagiarised version of 'Lux Aeterna', the theme from Requiem for a Dream.

There were 2 standout performances in this.

Lars Mikkelsen - His performance, although minimal, was world class at the very end of the movie. Felt so genuine like it was happening for real. Gave me goosebumps. Magnificent.

Allen's niece - They went uncredited in this performance so I won't name them. The effectiveness of their performance is so understated. Their soft baby sounds was angelic in their sounds. Almost as if it was foretold that they'd be singing some of the most beautiful music in the world. I may be a little bias in my assessment, though.

Overall a decent movie. Had I not had seen RfaD and Trainspotting many years before seeing this, I may've rated this higher.

It's supposed to be a comedy show, but in typical Australian comedy, this one falls well short of funny unless you're one of those hyene types that laugh at everything.

Having these audiences who laugh at everything don't help these comedians develop. There's a reason why Australian stand up comedians don't make it on the worldwide stage outside of a few exceptions who didn't make their name in Australia.

The jokes are predictable and stereotype-based, which is the biggest fault of Australian stand up comedy; everything is a stereotype based joke. Wil Anderson is an okay host who controls the flow of the show solidly, but he's still cracking the same jokes 25 years later; turning everything possible into a dirty joke.

It's basically Gruen, but replace the advertising industry with social media. And replace the marketing employees with comedians who are as talented as comedians as the marketing employees are.

One positive is this show doesn't use the same recycled comedians seen on every other Australian 'comedy' show; HYBPA excluded.