Rembrandt

The cover advertised with that it was the same man that made "I kina spiser de hunde" and "Gamle mænn i nye biler". So i had really high expectations when i put it in my DVD player. After what seemed like a very long time i looked down at the display to see how long it had lasted. I was amazed to see that it had only lasted 50 minutes... Besides that it is quite a good movie. All in all this is about family values, as well as stealing a famous painting by accident because of a badly placed mark. It has its funny moments but most of the time it is a tale to see how friends get when there is a lot of money on the line. This is the kind of movie that i will rate 5 because it is right in between good and bad...

Thoroughly enjoyable caper film in which the heist itself takes only about 30 seconds, when a few low-rent criminals accidentally steals the wrong painting from a Danish art museum, only to realize they've got their hands on a genuine Rembrandt. Stealing it was the easy part, getting rid of it turns out to be the hard part. Lars Brygmann stars in his first leading role, and does a great job as the petty thief, who wants to do better. Brygmann is supported by a great cast of newcomers and veterans. Great fun and always entertaining with a hilarious final twist. Echoes of "Olsen-Banden" and "Blinkende Lygter", but this film can easily stand on its own. Scripted by the director and the ubiquitous Anders Thomas Jensen, loosely based on real events.

Going to see this was a bit of a gamble for me. I didn't feel convinced that this film would be worthwhile, based as it is on a funny, but not terribly dramatic news story about the robbery of a Rembrandt painting. I was, in the end, positively surprised, even at Lars Brygmann's unusual role which I would have thought was out-of-character for him.

In fact, director Jannik Johansen has made a very strong and convincing story from the actual event which inspired him. The fact that the robbers stole the Rembrandt by mistake rather than by intent proves a good starting point for a comic screenplay full of surprise, distrust and, eventually, disappointment. The latter is no spoiler, for it is almost a given that a Danish crime plot on film will not depict the problem-free victory of the crooks, but rather the opposite. "Rembrandt" might, as such, remind many viewers of the famous "Olsen-Banden" series.

Actors which work well in a comic, but also dramatic and personal setting are instrumental here. The film succeeds very well, especially with before-mentioned Lars Brygmann, the super-expressive Nicolas Bro and the bold, young Jacob Cedergren for whom this is the first major film role since his breakthrough in the TV series "Edderkoppen". Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau is all right as the fourth gang member, but his part lacks perspective and importance, in part due to the fact that the ending of the film doesn't involve his character adequately. Søren Pilmark, Sonja Richter and Paprika Steen are the most noteworthy of the additional cast, all in solid performances.

Rembrandt is not by any means a revelation, nor does it attract much attention for cinematography or additional crafts, but it works on all levels and, notably, successfully adds a serious and personal angle to its humour.

Expected a good movie i got a very good movie, which is always good.

In the later years the strength of the danish movies have been the loose action-comedy films, and this is one of those, although it is not as funny and violent as previous titles, this is a much warmer and deeper action movie that focuses a lot on the personalities characters as well, it's actually a very personal movie and you get to know each of the main characters very good, which is nice becuase you'll end up feeling with them towards the end.

But even though this movie is perhaps not as funny and violent entertaining as movies like "I kina spiser de hunde" and "Blinkende Lygter" then it still succeeds quite well, surpringsly well actually, the plot outline is somewhat original and seems very realistic, which is natural i guess since it's made upon a real story, although i can't help wondering what is fiction and what is actual reality.

But looking back at it i can definitely recommend this movie, best danish production i have seen in a while, well made and the acting is actually absolute top class, nothing to say there, actually there only critic i can really give is sometimes you find yourself wondering what is fiction and what is reality, and then the end i think was a bit tame, but i'm not gonna flame it over that becuase everything else was very well made.

8/10

Well, I think this movie is really good, there's comedy, seriousity, a bit of action, love.. everything.. And the fact that it's a Danish movie just makes it better, since I think most Danish movies are bad, but this is defently not. Great actors great story (cuz it's inspired by the art theft in Denmark in 1999).. everything is just great!