Børning

A hilarious and charming action comedy with lots of heart, great scenery and nice driving scenes. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's not like an epic movie, but for what it is, it is well made. The young one is watching it for a second time in 12 hours. He is like tied to the screen and you can't talk to him.

Fast cars, lots of noise, pretty girls and cheesy one liners. What more is there to want from a car film? As an adult and not particularly interested in cars, I was still drawn to the film and enjoyed it a lot.

Even my cohabitant who is really not into cars and isn't exactly in the main focus groups, so this is safely one to watch with the whole family.

The ending leaves room for a sequel so who knows if we'll see a second film next year?

I'm not one for car/racing movies, so a big chunk of this movie did not really appeal to me. It's not a long movie, and a lot of it is cars driving on roads. The scenery is often nice, though.

But other than all the shots of cars driving (with some minor action in them), I like how this movie acknowledges the fact that it is Norwegian, and uses it to its advantage. It can't compete with Hollywood blockbusters in their game, but it can be something that's unlikely to come out of Hollywood. Some of this are just references that only Norwegians will understand (like a reference to Flåklypa Grand Prix), but it also shows itself in the mentality of the characters, and in some of the settings.

After enjoying the trailer a lot I came to see this film on cinema with rather high expectations. Although the first 20 minutes weren't as engaging and exciting as I was hoping for, the rest of the film more than made up for it, making it actually proceed my initial high expectations.

First of all, the film has a great bunch of thrilling car scenes, especially exciting having in mind that they're taking place at relatively narrow Norwegian roads. The unlikeliness of this actually happening in Norway, the soundtrack and the numerous funny comments throughout the race, made it well worth the while.

Børning is packed with famous Norwegian actors like Anders Baasmo Christiansen (check out Kon-Tiki), Sven Nordin (Elling) and Otto Jespersen (Trollhunter), all delivering top notch performances, securing believability to a rather unrealistic story. Especially Christiansen, the main actor, gave this film a lot of emotional depth. I found my self rooting for him, even though he's not the kind of person you'd easily like. Otto Jespersen, on the other hand, delivers the best one liner I have experienced in film. I'm sure many Norwegians will agree.

This film is one of the best Norwegian films I have seen, and it's not a coincidence it is topping the box office in Norway, ahead of for instance films like Guardians of the Galaxy. If you, like me, love cars, speed and comedy with a "Fast and Furious"-worthy soundtrack, this film won't disappoint!

So, i'll start this review by mentioning that this movie is not as serious as the trailer would imply.

This movie felt like a tribute to old car chase films, there's hints and nods to movies such as Dirty Mary crazy Larry and of course Fast and furious among others. The movie isn't taking itself seriously, which in my opinion made it easier to watch. Along with great scenery and some well built, tastefully modified cars.

It also makes fun of Scandinavian car fans, especially the young enthusiasts, this was great fun to watch.

If you're looking for an Oscar winner, look further. If however, you like cars, and car films, you should definitely see this one.