As Good As It Gets

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Beautifully shot, written, acted, edited & directed chronicle of Norwegian twenty-somethings making the transition into adulthood, focusing on two wannabe novelists, close friends. Much more creative, imaginative, risk-taking and original than similar films made in the US. Friendship between males is intimate & warm in a way never seen in US movies, where we're too macho for this. Content is dense & detailed, tho film may appear breezy & casual, which is one of its accomplishments. But above all, something which isn't even mentioned, the movie is hilariously funny. Can't even reprint most of the jokes, given the yoke of censorship and political correctness around our necks in the US, esp. on the internet. Suffice it to say a punk band plays a song entitled "Fingerpult av Gerhardsen" and obscene fun is had at the expense of politically correct "fascism." That director Trier, an accomplished skateboarder, got his start in filmmaking by making movies about skateboarding may offer a clue to his irreverence and energy. (His new film, Thelma, is also top notch.)

'Reprise' tells the story of two young men with literary ambitions. Set in 2006, it certainly breathes the spirit of that time.The characters in this film are well acted, and very human. And also very Norwegian: heavy-handed, reflecting a country where the winter lasts for nine months a year.Through all this, we see a nice performance of the non-literary girl Viktoria Winge. Her down-to-earth performance makes a refreshing alternative to all literary violence.

A prizewinner in Norway, this debut feature by director Joachim Trier traces the friendship between two young novelists, one who makes a splash with his first book and cracks under the pressure (Anders Danielson Lie), and another who takes a while to find himself but seems poised for a much longer and more substantial career (Espen Klouman-Hoiner). In the opening scene, childhood buddies Phillip (Lie) and Erik (Hoiner) nervously stand in front of a mailbox about to ship their first novels to a publisher. We're told that cult status beckons, because mainstream celebrity is for losers. Then reality sinks in and deals them both a blow: Erik's novel is rejected, while Philip's is published to great acclaim – only for a psychotic break to undo him at the height of his success.In "Reprise" time is fluid. Scenes meander, disappear and reappear and sometimes the film jumps forward, showing us what will transpire before it does. The movie has a smart and knowing script, inviting the audience for reflection of their own. Joachim Trier neatly encapsulates that take-on-the-world optimism of unsullied youth. "Reprise" is many things at once: a window into mental illness, obsessive love, the uneasy transition from youth to adulthood, and finally the most intriguing aspect of the story line-fraternal competitiveness. The only real problem with the movie is it doesn't entirely establish a genuine, heartfelt interest in the characters for the audience. Both protagonists' grew up idealizing Norway's greatest living writer, who tells one of them his novel is good and shows promise. In the same sense, the movie itself is good, and first time director Joachim Trier shows great potential.

Before I saw 'Reprise', I was warned by somebody who hated it that I would probably hate it as well. I am soooo glad I didn't listen to their (so called)voice of reason & went by my own gut feeling. Reprise is a tale of two school chums who are both aspiring writers who have sent manuscripts of their most recent works to a publisher,expecting "who knows what". Most of this film is a tale of modern Norwegian youth, dealing with the usual glut of existential angst that Gen Y'ers seem to deal with (partying,girlfriends,trying to deal with growing up,etc.). What I really appreciated was the fact that the film doesn't sink to the usual American realm of bad taste (endless jokes concerning farts,vomit,sexual dysfunction,boozing,doping,and who knows what else Seth Rogan can come up with). This film probably won't be of much relevance to those over the age of 40 (especially the choice of music,which tends to stick to music from the mid to late 1990's until now), but if you can get beyond that, Reprise will be a small,quiet surprise for open minded souls looking for a breath of fresh air from the glut of the usual films from the American sewer.