Poor Ove (pronounced "Oh-vay", and played with empathy by Rolf Lassgard), can't even die. A grumpy, stubborn and rude old man, Ove also recently lost the love of his life, his wife Sonja (the mesmerizing Ida Engvoll), and all he is trying to do is to meet her in the great beyond. He has bought a rope to hang himself, but he keeps getting interrupted. Finally when he is given just a damned minute, the rope snaps. He angrily returns it to the store he bought it from. Can't a man just kill himself in peace these days? This is the setting for the touching, sometimes overly sappy "A Man Called Ove" (opening today, Oct 7). It's darkly funny with an enlarged heart, just like its rough, weathered subject. Ove lives in a small community in Sweden (the film is in Swedish with English subtitles), and spends his time like many old men do. He yells at his neighbors, he shoes unwanted pets and animals from his door, and he obsesses over his community's "no motor vehicle" policy. This is a dude who, when he has an apparent heart-attack and falls, he tells the onlookers, "make sure the ambulance doesn't drive on the street!"
We quickly learn though, that Ove has not always been a hardened, crusty old man. He visits his wife's grave often, talking to her and promising to join her soon. By the time he finally gets the opportunity to take his own life, the story uses the moment to flash Ove's life before our eyes. As a boy, he was raised by his father, with his mother's absence never explained, only implied. His dad taught him that Saab's are the best cars in the world, and he idolized his tough but loving dad, who worked at a train yard. At college age, after showing his dad his good grades, his father suffered a horrible accident. In the aftermath, Ove lost everything, that is, until a chance encounter with a beautiful young girl on a train altered the path of his life. The flashbacks continue as a device throughout the movie, and they go to show the soft gooey core of Ove located inside the solid, nearly impenetrable outer core. Through happenstance, Ove is befriended by a neighbor couple and their two kids, and he ends of going on a journey that reveals to us that he still has a lot to live for, even if Ove himself can't quite see that. Lassgard's powerful performance is helped out by a wildly funny, black script, and the nimble direction from Hannes Holm. There are a few elements that are too on-the-nose, like showing a young Ove rescue some people from a burning building (OK, we get it, he used to be a good guy). Some credit should also go to Ida Engvoll, who is just riveting and creates instant chemistry, exposing a side of Ove that we know still exists in his current life. But here is a man ready to die, but who is full of life. It's a fascinating, surprisingly heart-warming and touching story. "A Man Called Ove" is best when balancing itself as a sharp comedy, one that hides a lot of heart underneath, much like Ove. The nuances and small subtle moments that are folded into the movie make it one of the most pleasing imports of the year. Grade: A- Genre: Comedy, Drama Run Time: 1 hours, 56 minutes, Rated PG-13 Starring: Rolf Lassgard, Bahar Pars, Ida Engvoll, Borje Lundberg Directed by Hannes Holm ("The Anderssons in Greece," "Behind Blue Skies," "The Reunion," "Adam & Eva")
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Looking for a specific movie or review?
Search Below: Categories
All
Archives
October 2024
|