Humørkort-stativ-sælgerens Søn (2002) - Danish laughs in small-scope relationship comedy

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Naughty hijinks with popular stars seems to be the promise from this poster for Peter Bay's Humørkort-stativ-sælgerens Søn

A Copenhagen publishing house editor is under pressure from his broody girlfriend, meanwhile he gets a new Swedish boss, who wants him to cut ties with his poet friend, alcoholic Jack.

 

Humørkort-stativ-sælgerens Søn is written by Mads Brenøe (Surferne Kommer (1998)), Dunja Gry Jensen (Terribly Happy/Frygtelig Lykkelig (2008)) and co-writer/director Peter Bay (Fede Tider (1996)). The original Danish title translates to, 'the humor card mount salesman's son'.

Hella Joof (Normalerweize (2004-11)) walks determinedly into a very funny role here, which exposes some of the strategies of modern women in relationships, and Thomas Bo Larsen (The Hunt/Jagten (2012)) is good as an atypical, modern pushover man with an ugly haircut. Philip Zandén (Micke & Veronica (2014)) also acts as the Swedish boss with comedic brilliance.

The plot is rife with unlikely and clearly constructed occurrences, and co-star Anette Støvelbæk (Speed Walking/Kapgang (2014)) is given a flat character who's just a sweet veterinarian and that's it. The minuscule budget also becomes conspicuous, as when a scene that clearly calls for extras has no extras, - and in the animated opening credits, which are so primitive that they appear to come from an American 1960s film. 

So the sum and the width in Humørkort-stativ-sælgerens Søn leaves something to be desired, but the film is fun to watch, although for Danes primarily.

 

Related post:

 

Peter Bay: Kun en Pige (1995) - Schrøder's lavish Lise Nørgaard biopic (co-writer)

 

 

Cost: Unknown, projected 1.43 mil. $

Box office: Approximately 740k $

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.51 times its cost)

[Humørkort-stativ-sælgerens Søn was released 28 June (Denmark) and runs 85 minutes. Shooting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. The film sold 69,999 tickets in Denmark (the only theatrical release market), coming to around 5.18 mil. DKK or 0.74 mil. $. With a projected cost of 10 mil. DKK, the film ranks as a huge flop. It was nominated for 1 Robert, Denmark's Oscar. Bay only returned with a short, Striber (2003). Joof returned in Det Brune Punktum: Far Brugte Ikke Noget (2002, video) and theatrically in Someone Like Hodder/En Som Hodder (2003); Larsen in Hjerteafdelingen (2002, TV-series)), with a voice performance in The Boy Who Wanted to Be a Bear/Drengen Der Ville Gøre Det Umulige (2002) and with a physical theatrical performance in It's All About Love (2003). 311 IMDb users have given Humørkort-stativ-sælgerens Søn a 3.6/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Humørkort-stativ-sælgerens Søn? 

Oh Happy Day (2004) - Some fun and uplift in Joof's cliche-ridden second flick

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Co-writer/star Lotte Andersen looks gobsmacked at the feeling of dark hands on her milky-white face on this bright poster for Hella Joof's Oh Happy Day

Middle-aged Hannah lives in a passionless marriage and attends choir at church, where the group there now invite a stranded, American choir leader to lead them. And soon Hannah's life sings to a new tune ...

Oh Happy Day is written by Jannik Johansen (Murk/Mørke (2005)), co-writer/star Lotte Andersen (Okay (2002), actor) and co-writer/director Hella Joof (Shake It All About/En Kort En Lang (2001)).
Andersen's protagonist Hannah is well-acted but too passive and mousy overall, and the cliches come in a steady pace in Joof's spiritual comedy: Not least the one that Danish men are uniformly uncool dorks, but also the cliche of the sensual, musical black man is established fact in Oh Happy Day.
The heavy-handed  script does venture to promote faith and a more liberated church form, which is fine, and Ditte Gråbøl (A Caretaker's Tale/Viceværten (2012)) is a fun sidekick for Andersen. English 1980s popstar Rick Astley has composed some fine songs for the film.
Oh Happy Day would have been a more infectious romcom, if it had been a better film.

Related post:

Hella Joof: Shake It All About/En Kort En Lang/Shake It (2001) or, Him or Her?

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: Reportedly 2 mil. £, equaling approximately 2.5 mil. $
Box office: Unknown, but likely in excess of 2.42 mil. $
= Uncertain, but likely a huge or big flop (likely returned around 1 times its cost)
[Oh Happy Day premiered 25 August (Copenhagen International Film Festival, Denmark) and runs 92 minutes. The production was financed with support from the Danish Film Institute. Shooting took place in Denmark. The film sold 248k tickets in Denmark, making it a local hit, and it was released in Germany, Netherlands and Sweden, although grosses from there are unreported and likely tiny. It was nominated for 6 Robert awards (Denmark's Oscar) and 1 Bodil (Danish film critics awards). Joof returned with Easy Skanking/Fidibus (2006). Andersen returned in Min Søsters Børn i Ægypten (2004); Gråbøl in Forsvar (2004, TV-series) and theatrically in Accused/Anklaget (2005); and Malik Yoba (Bull (2000-01)) in Arrested Development (2004, TV-series), Slur (2005, short) and theatrically in Kids in America (2005). 691 IMDb users have given Oh Happy Day a 5.6/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Oh Happy Day?

Shake It All About/En Kort En Lang/Shake It (2001) or, Him or Her?

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Mads Mikkelsen is like a louse caught between two nails on this poster for Hella Joof's Shake It All About

Jacob proposes to his boyfriend, but then falls for a woman, Caroline. - Can he have it all?

Shake It All About is the charming little romcom debut of Danish co-writer-director Hella Joof (Oh Happy Day (2004)), co-written with Klaus Bondam (Sharks/Inkasso/The Collector (2004), actor), based on an idea by producer Thomas Gammeltoft (Good People (2014)) and Michael Christoffersen (Law of the Jungle (2012, documentary), writer-director). It is an incredibly silly film that provides essentially bad and stereotypical characterizations of gays in a lot of ways, but which also served as the upbeat, Danish coming-together LGBT movie of the new millennium.
It is funny, - although undoubtedly mostly for Danes, - and in the laugh section, especially Ditte Gråbøl (Oh Happy Day) and Peter Frödin (Grethe (2016-17)) tickle the ribs with their performances. Troels Lyby (Headhunter (2009)) and Mads Mikkelsen (Men & Chicken/Mænd & Høns (2015)) are both very good in the leads, and Mikkelsen has the added quality of being very easy on the eyes here. Shake It All About wins an extra point for its wholly fantastic ending.

 Watch a 1-minute scene from the film here

Cost:  Reportedly 16.5 mil. DKK, equal to approximately 2.35 mil. $
Box office: Unknown (but projected at around 36-37 mil. DKK)
= Uncertainty (but likely a minor flop)
[Shake It All About was released 16 November (Denmark) and runs 98 minutes. Shooting took place in Christianshavn, Kastrup Airport and other places in Denmark as well as in Malmö, Sweden. It was shown in competition at the Moscow International Film Festival, worth noting in context of Russia's homophobic culture. The film was a big hit in Denmark, where 584,064 paid admission, (but played in 'Biografklub Danmark' [cinema club Denmark], which means that a large portion of the tickets were sold at half prize), but if it hasn't made more of a dent internationally than the few numbers out suggest (6k admissions in Norway; 26k € gross in Italy), it was, at least theatrically, a minor flop. It was nominated for 6 Robert Awards (Danish Oscar), winning the Audience Award, Best Supporting Actor (Lyby), Best Song (Vent på Mig by Martin Brygmann, Frödin and Joof, which was also a huge Danish radio hit for years) and Best Sound. It was also nominated for 2 Bodil Awards (Danish critics' awards). 2,679 IMDb users have given Shake It All About a 6.1/10 average rating.]

What do you think of Shake It All About?