Hjelp, vi er russ

A Norwegian take on a high school comedy, though more of a parody of the genre. There's talent here in many ways, and actually I found th film more entertaining than I expected. The quality of this is far from what we've become used to from Norway the latter years, and this is not really very comparable with the quality of these.

Some of this parody is spot on, as well as the work from the professional comedians and actors in smaller roles as school principal, gymnastics teacher, a local mr. Fixit, and not to mention the disgusting local policeman. The film pays tributes to films, film-genres , music, stereotypes as well as clichés. The film also makes fun of the graduation rituals, which at spot on, even with the car problems.

A gang of high school Russ, graduate students which dress up in red costumes in Norway each spring, is going to a huge party down on the Southern West coast of Norway to a party festival just for Russ. Their dream is to have the party of their life. But it doesn't go without troubles.

The problem is that the forced amateurish style is a little bit too much, and the humor is often too sex focused, crude and racial fixated. This ruins much of what could be a film with very memorable aspects. Director Kenneth Olaf Hjellum really make some great parody moments, especially with the local TV-news reports. This is The amateur actors are charming, but the acting is quite off except from a couple of them, which really are good. Charm doesn't make this worth watching, but some of the ideas might.

However, if you are more concerned with killing off time, this will both give some great moments due to music and slap stick moments with hillbilly style rural stupidities. I really think some might remember things from their own graduation.

In recent years I have seen some great comedies from Norway, some much better then Swedish comedies (notable exception to this rule, the productions from directors Peter Dalle, Ulf Malmros) that couldn't even entertain a monkey. These comedies (for example Elling (2001), Salmer fra kjøkkenet 2003 )have had flawless direction, scripts and acting on a very high level.

This film however, is a step in another direction, paying homage mainly to US produced sexcomedies aimed at a teenage audience. Now on paper it sounds like a incredibly bad idea but director Kenneth Olaf Hjellum and his co writer Stig Frode Henriksen knows the genre well, and uses the clichés in a good way.

The story is a simple one, about a group students, that are going to graduate from high school and go to big party in south parts of Norway. But someone steals their money, and now they can't go. And usual, a group of misfits decides not to give up, they are going on a roadtrip anyway.

The film is filled with a sometimes, crude, adolescent humor, but done in a very warm, charming way. Paying homage mainly to the teen comedies of the 80's such as Porky's (1982), Revenge of the Nerds (1984),Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) etc.

There also links to more recent productions like Accepted (2006), Road Trip (2000) , Superbad (2007). Mostly impressive is the fact that the director Kenneth Olaf Hjellum does this with very distinctive norwegian style. The film looks and feels like norwegian sex comedy set in high school.

Granted, this film isn't breaking new grounds but has so much charm and some genuinely funny moments that the audience can overlook some of the very predictable storyline.

Add a great cast, some very sexy naked norwegian girls, and you get a very entertaining comedy. Just don't expect too much.

This kind of genre experimenting you will probably not see by Swedish directors in the near future (with notably failures, like Göta kanal 2 - Kanalkampen 2006 )and therefore this film was a pleasant surprise.

This film may not be a serious comedy drama like Bare Bea (2004) but has its own charm and entertaining value.

When I decided to watch this movie I went into it with very low expectations. All I was hoping to get was an hour and a half of mindnumbing entertainment.

I watched through the awkward and completely talentless dialouge waiting for it to get better, which it didn't. The acting is so poor it's painful and the story is totally predictable and tedious.

The only thing I was left with after watching this disaster of a movie was the realisation that I will never get back that hour and a half.

If you have windows at your house I would strongly advice you to sit and watch the street rather than seeing this movie. I felt I had to write this because the previous reviews don't reflect the horrorific suckiness of this movie.