Peter Dalle is a very skilled director when it comes to dark and rather bleak comedy. His flaw though is that he has to stop himself before it becomes too dark and too bleak. Here he manages to balance the two rather nicely.
The UK-title of this movie is "Unmarried Couples: A Comedy That Will Break You Up" which is a rather good translation of the wordplay in the Swedish title. As far as wordplay can ever be translated at least. This movie is about two struggling inner-city couples and a Christmas they decide to spend together.
This movie survives greatly on it's actors. Lena Endre, Suzanne Reuter, Peter Dalle and Johan Ulvesson are all very good. Without them this could have been unbearable. I can't say that i appreciated this movie as a whole so much as individual scenes. There are a few moments here that are pure genius. I won't spoil it for you but one of them includes one of the characters dressing up like Santa Claus, which is always a recipe for disaster in Swedish films.
In the end Peter Dalles dark streak prevents this from being a hundred percent entertaining. Rather it's a mix of emotions where sometimes the laughter gets stuck in your throat, which is often the case with Peter Dalles movies. Some people feel it adds to the experience, i'm not so sure myself. This is however well worth seeing for the moments of pure genius. I rate it 6/10.
The UK-title of this movie is "Unmarried Couples: A Comedy That Will Break You Up" which is a rather good translation of the wordplay in the Swedish title. As far as wordplay can ever be translated at least. This movie is about two struggling inner-city couples and a Christmas they decide to spend together.
This movie survives greatly on it's actors. Lena Endre, Suzanne Reuter, Peter Dalle and Johan Ulvesson are all very good. Without them this could have been unbearable. I can't say that i appreciated this movie as a whole so much as individual scenes. There are a few moments here that are pure genius. I won't spoil it for you but one of them includes one of the characters dressing up like Santa Claus, which is always a recipe for disaster in Swedish films.
In the end Peter Dalles dark streak prevents this from being a hundred percent entertaining. Rather it's a mix of emotions where sometimes the laughter gets stuck in your throat, which is often the case with Peter Dalles movies. Some people feel it adds to the experience, i'm not so sure myself. This is however well worth seeing for the moments of pure genius. I rate it 6/10.
