Highly Overrated But Still Good

From my favorite movies..

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

BLEEDER is the follow-up to Nicolas Winding Refn's Danish debut, PUSHER. I think it's a better film in every respect, even if it is less well known: the story, of family dysfunction and human relationships, is brimming with power, and by turns tragic, bleak, and ultimately devastating.The story sees Leo (Kim Bodnia, of PUSHER fame), attempting to adapt to family life when he finds out his girlfriend's pregnant. Along the way, he continues uneasy friendships with the racist Louis, his girlfriend's brother, and Lenny (Mads Mikkelsen), a loner who works at the local video shop. Of course things eventually become very dark indeed, and more harrowing and shocking than they were in PUSHER.Refn elicits some excellent performances from his cast, not least from Bodnia, who is quietly terrifying throughout this. A glimmer of hope and humour comes from the presence of the outstanding Mikkelsen, who is my favourite character; the video shop setting allows for plenty of cultural references for film fans. Watch out for PUSHER's Zlatko Buric as another friend. By the end, I felt like I'd done ten rounds in the ring: BLEEDER is that kind of film, and excellent with it.

The first half or so is witty and makes you giggle (dialogues resemble Tarantino's movies), then the depiction of a trivial wife-battering becomes dominant and the other story-line (Lenny's and Kitjo's world) get less attention, although Lenny is the most peculiar and distinctive character. With the appearance of a mob and a gun, the film gets more catchy twists, leading to an inevitable solution. The very ending, however, is too numb, a British-style prank could have been in place. As for the cast, the male stars are fabulous again, especially Mads Mikkelsen (probably the most versatile living Danish actor) and Kim Bodnia (I like him most in The Bridge though); female performers are less uninviting. By the way, why all the leading characters' names begin with L? Bleeder is okay, but I liked the Pusher trilogy and Drive more.

With this film coming out several years after Pusher, giving Nicolas Winding Refn plenty of time to work on it, with basically the same cast as Pusher and apparently a bigger budget, I guess I expected more than this. While Pusher was an impressive and gritty look at the underground of Copenhagen, this is just a slightly unrealistic psychological profile of a loser who finds his wife having a baby to be the final straw. The film is about Leo, who hates almost everything about his life. When he finds himself pushed in the background for the baby his wife is to give birth to soon, he flips out and sets a load of bad stuff coming his way in motion. The plot is pretty good, I guess, but it just didn't seem as good as the plot of Pusher. The pacing is fair, but the film too often seems to stand still. The acting was mostly great. The characters are somewhat interesting and credible, but they were too underdeveloped(even more so than those of Pusher), so we rarely understand why they do what they do. The score is great, though it is overly noisy and annoying at times, most of the time it fits in well with the character were watching and his or her state of mind. The cinematography is less interesting and involving than that of Pusher. Less movement, and when there finally is movement, it seems off. The directorial style of Pusher is still there, and this is what makes the film enjoyable and watchable. However, too much time is spent wondering why him or her is doing this and that, and in the end I found that even with a fair bit of analyzing, I can't make heads or tails of the film. I don't know... maybe my expectations were too high. I recommend this to very big fans of director Nicolas W. Refn and/or Pusher. 7/10

So I travel from Sweden to Copenhagen to see a movie, paying about 15 bucks for the trip, and another 10 for the movie. 25 bucks for a movie???? Was it worth it????Damn right it was, this is Nicholas Winding Refn´s second feature, and after his masterful debut: Pusher I really had my hopes up. And boy was it good.The tempo is a little slower than Pusher, but it really suits the movie. It´s got great dialogue that kinda reminded me of Clerks in some places, especially the scenes in the videostore. The theme of the movie in my mind is about men, and our problems with talking to each other and to women. Sure there are scenes with really disturbing and realistic violence. But I feel it has more in common with John Cassavettes, than Abel Ferrara and Martin Scorsese that I think were refn inspirations for Pusher.The actors are brilliant all around, especially Mads Mikkelsen who does a fantastic performance as a filmgeek, with major problems when it comes to talking and being around girls. And Kim Bodnia gives a really introspective performance that proves his status as one of europe´s if not the whole worlds best actors.All in all a very powerful, and intense movie that is a must see