A Beautiful Life

Danish singer Christopher Lund Nissen, aka Christopher, composed and performed the soundtrack for this story of a fisherman with a troubled past who is discovered while playing a gig as support for his best friend Oliver. Christopher, with a sculpted face like that of a Greek god combined with a vulnerable angel, sings his heart out in this dramatic tale of creative and career success, love, and loss. Sometimes a 7 is the perfect film for the moment. I was engaged in the story, liked the supporting cast who were also very strong, enjoyed the music, and thought that Christopher nailed his role. Sweet film.

This is the story of a Danish fisherman turned reluctant pop star. Elliot is a hard working fisherman who was raised in the foster system and has the simple dream of fixing up his parents sailboat to sail around the world. He has a wonderful and honest boss who rightfully questions his devotion to his childhood friend Oliver. Oliver's dream is to make it big in the music industry, but unfortunately he doesn't have the talent to get him there. While helping Oliver out at his gig, Elliot gets discovered by the widow of a famous rock star. She seems to think her still grieving daughter (who is a producer) needs a pet project and Elliot is that project.

The rest as they say is history. This is a slow moving love story with some beautiful songs. I am a big fan of great lyrics and I think this film is worth watching for the final song alone (the scene too...but it was the song that had the tears running).

This is a recommendation for all the romantics out there and my review is based on watching the film in it's original Danish language with English subtitles.

Don't expect too much because this is a light romantic movie. The main characters are not well-developed. True. Nonetheless, there's tension between them which should count for something. Elliot and Lilly have personal issues of their own. The movie doesn't quite tell whether these are resolved at the end but the viewer can take his pick. If you believe in the lyrics of Elliot's last song, you'd say it will be a happy ending.

What stands out, of course, is Christopher's original music which I enjoyed. Seldom do you watch a movie where the lead actor also composes the songs he sings in the movie.

By no means is the story unique because the theme has been used by earlier films that are even topbilled by bigger, better known actors/singers like A Star is Born and Bodyguard. Still, the movie is enjoyable in its own right.

Don't listen to the negative reviews. Very nice story about a troubled fisherman with musical talent who gets discovered instead of his friend.

In there is a deeper story of why he is troubled, the relationship he has with his record producer, the baggage they each carry. His friend is a big opportunistic jerk, but for some reason, probably because of all of the hurt and bad stuff Elliott has endured, he has a real connection with Oliver and wants to stick by him.

Acting is good, music is amazing. I find the foreign films always do it better. Reminds me of A Star is Born but the 2.0 version.

I recommend it!

Good songs and great voice but that's mostly it.

Can fill an evening / afternoon if you want a romcom with some music in it and you don't feel like searching.

A classical romcom with music as expected with an acceptable character synergy but a real lack of work on the story.

The movie feels quite lazy especially in terms of the main character backstory. There was potential in the central character if he was given an actually good backstory and evolution. The other character actually has more backstory but it also feels lackluster and poorly exploited. The movie just sticks to the classical trope of romantic movies with music as part of the plot.

PLUS: the music MINUS: predictable, lack of main character development.