I was delighted to find this romcom offered on my recent Icelandic Airlines flight to JFK. I don't think I'd have discovered it otherwise.
Here we have the story of brothers óskar and Maggi, 30ish professionals in Reykjavík who each want love but pursue it differently. óskar(Björn Thors) is diffident to the point of seeming not to care about Anna (Sara Dögg ásgeirsdóttir), his pug's vet, while Maggi (Joel Sæmundsson) will pursue a pretty face whether she's right for him or not.
Set against the winsome Icelandic capital, this film is breezily conversational as we observe the tentative explorations of óskar, the clunky and clueless efforts of Maggi, and the commentary of friends and family along the way. In his second feature film, Swedish director Maximilian Hult clearly seems to have been influenced by Woody Allen, as the characters here all seem comfortable with open and candid repartee.
Everything in this jazzily scored film worked for me except a silly subplot involving óskar's two Gothic dog sitters. I never cared about these teenagers.
This movie features an all-Icelandic cast with dialogue in Icelandic, a language director Hult admitted he did not know in an article that I found on the internet. Hult had planned on filming in Sweden but opted for Iceland instead, lured by a "25% reimbursement."
I have no idea what that's about, but I am glad the story took place in Iceland. It's a treat for someone like me who loves the country and is trying to learn the native tongue.
Here we have the story of brothers óskar and Maggi, 30ish professionals in Reykjavík who each want love but pursue it differently. óskar(Björn Thors) is diffident to the point of seeming not to care about Anna (Sara Dögg ásgeirsdóttir), his pug's vet, while Maggi (Joel Sæmundsson) will pursue a pretty face whether she's right for him or not.
Set against the winsome Icelandic capital, this film is breezily conversational as we observe the tentative explorations of óskar, the clunky and clueless efforts of Maggi, and the commentary of friends and family along the way. In his second feature film, Swedish director Maximilian Hult clearly seems to have been influenced by Woody Allen, as the characters here all seem comfortable with open and candid repartee.
Everything in this jazzily scored film worked for me except a silly subplot involving óskar's two Gothic dog sitters. I never cared about these teenagers.
This movie features an all-Icelandic cast with dialogue in Icelandic, a language director Hult admitted he did not know in an article that I found on the internet. Hult had planned on filming in Sweden but opted for Iceland instead, lured by a "25% reimbursement."
I have no idea what that's about, but I am glad the story took place in Iceland. It's a treat for someone like me who loves the country and is trying to learn the native tongue.