Pensionat Oskar

Pretty banal film that makes you wonder why and for whom it was made. Acting, script and direction is not very good (to put it mildly) - it wants to be "cosy" and "cute" but fails. At best, trivial. At worst, extremely shallow and empty.

Brilliant story about a middle-aged man's life-crisis when he realizes that not only he doesn't love his wife, but he may be gay as well. This film is not about homosexuality, rather it is about escaping the cage social rules and expectations have forced you into and accepting who you really are.

Loa Falkman as the frustrated family father Rune Runeberg is very good. Stina Ekblad as his wife however is brilliant, portraying a house-wife in the middle of a crumbling marriage, trying to salvage what can be salvaged.

The script is witty, sharp and very spot-on, detailing the Swedish middle-class suburban hell as we expect from Jonas Gardell. We have some laughs at the expense of the family as their problems get them into various absurd situations, but the next instance we choke on them instead when it dawns upon us just how unhappy the main characters are with their lives.

As the main song goes; "What I was looking for, and what I found instead."

Loa Falkman as the frustrated family father Rune Runeberg is the keeper of this movie. In Sweden he is mostly known as an opera-singer, and his talent as an actor is highly underrated. See the movie and enjoy his acting! Stina Ekblad is also great as the desperate wife, trying to cling to a marriage that is already dead.

Well-directed and with marvelous acting, this is a film that may initially seem to be your average comedy only touching on the surface, but that eventually becomes a profound questioning of the values of the "normal life". Loa Falkman is great as Runeberg, a man whose life is slowly coming apart, although he tries to keep up the appearance in front of his family. As he is tempted by the forbidden (having an affair with a young man), he has to come to terms with what he really wants with his life. Ultimately this film asks the question: Am I really happy with myself just because everything seems fine?