One Way to Valhalla

This is a type of movie I usually don't appreciate. This is a drama movie. To be more precise, this is a kitchen sink drama movie. I don't like that. Especially, I usually don't like American drama movies. I think a lot of them are crap, idealizing the world and the characters into being either good or bad, and in the end the characters don't make any sense, simply because they are not believable.

This one is different. The characters in this movie are believable. They behave in a way people actually behave. Watching the movie is like sitting in a room filled with people who just cannot shut up. They (at least sometimes) try to do the right thing; sometimes they succeed, sometimes they don't. Just like real people would do.

I like this movie a lot. It's not a masterpiece, but it is good. Moreover, it is something fresh and new, and I would like to see more from this director.

I'm conflicted.

I don't want to dis the plot summary - written by the writer/director - but it doesn't really give a taste of the film.

Bo is a bit of insufferable gear-head and his wife is seriously fed up with him.

He has a bicycle accident, caused - well - no spoilers, but its largely to do with him being an insufferable gear-head.

And then? And then everything changes. Or, rather, Bo does.

And his wife can't bear it. And continues not to. This is more than concussion, this is transcendent brain damage. I liked Bo after his accident. Respected him.

Not a perfect film, but a film about growth, and hope, and change. Albeit after a knock on the head, but, hey. You gotta start somewhere.

I'm left with warm feelings, escapist feelings, a sense of freedom, of hope.

Hey, that's not bad, is it? I had to suspend clinical disbelief, (I'm a psychotherapist), but I still came away optimistic, touched, moved. Which, quite frankly, isn't bad for a film which is real, gritty, and grounded well on the serious side of any sweet, fairytale line.

Karen Goodman writes well, and directs better. I really hope she goes (much) further.

PS check my other reviews. NO connections to the film at all.