Player (2013) - Plot and quality head South for Danish comedy team

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Two of Denmark's most famous funny men riding a scooter with big smiles in Southern France try to sell here on the poster for Tomas Villum Jensen's Player

A dull lawyer from Copenhagen is handling a divorce case in Southern France, before he is going to propose to his boss' daughter. But on the trip he has soon lost 10 mil. Danish kroner, as he meets an old friend and a beautiful woman.

 

Player is written by Marie Østerbye (The Rain (2018, VoD TV-series)) and co-writer/co-star Casper Christensen (Dan-Dream (2017)), based on an idea from director Tomas Villum Jensen (Kærlighed ved Første Hik (1999)).

The beautiful woman in France remains a cipher until the end, except for the qualities of having a lovely smile and figure, and seeming nice and more natural than the daughter that the lawyer plans to marry.

Player provokes light chuckles three to four times, but unfortunately it is extinguished of really funny mix-ups, and Christensen probably should have abandoned this type of douche-bag character type after his long engagement with a similar one in the Clown/Klovn universe (TV-series 2005-18 plus three features in 2010, 2015 and 2020.) The climax of Player is also extremely short, which confirms the few, lazy or unstimulated narrative nerves behind the film.

 

Related posts:

 

Tomas Villum Jensen: Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious

Sidste Time (1995) - Hammy, heavy-handed Danish teen horror (actor) 

 

 

Watch a 3-minute clip from the film here

 

Cost: 19 mil. DKK, approximately 2.77 mil. $

Box office: 1.3 mil. $

=  Mega-flop (returned 0.46 times its cost)

[Player was released 20 June (Denmark) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in Copenhagen, Denmark and France. The film opened #2 in Denmark, where 96,089 paid admission in total. The film was not released in other markets. Jensen has since left directing alone, only except for 3 TV specials of celebrities playing golf. Christensen returned in Klown Forever (2015); Rasmus Bjerg (Held for Ransom/Ser Du Månen Daniel (2019)) in Gentlemen (2014). 1.2k IMDb users have given Player a 4.7/10 average rating.]

 

What do you think of Player? 

Sidste Time (1995) - Hammy, heavy-handed Danish teen horror

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An evil eye and a terrorized teen ditto stand out on this dark poster for Martin Schmidt's Sidste Time

A tabloid crime show broadcasts from in front of a high school, where a wave of murders is decimating a locked-in group of students.

Sidste Time is written by Dennis Jürgensen (Bag Det Stille Ydre (2005)) and directed by debuting Martin Schmidt (Kat (2001)). The original Danish title translates to 'last hour', referring to the last class of the day for a student.

A generous three heart rating here to this heavy-handed Danish horror that's very teenage-eschewed but has something worthwhile to it: A ghost-story-like fright factor. The acting is fair, - the TV host and the Last Girl performances are especially energetic, - and the dialog is decent. There is a scene with Thomas Bo Larsen (Another Round/Druk (2020)), which falls out of the overall tone of the film as only comical (and it is in fact a lot of fun.) But Sidste Time is also often involuntarily funny.

Schmidt is no great director. Here again and again he interrupts scary starts with scenes of the TV show shooting outside the school that are without real purpose. The film stalls and doesn't have nearly enough terror. It also has a horrible, 1980s-sounding score (by Frans Bak (Men & Chicken/Mænd og Høns (2015))) and a title song by Søs Fenger that is, in a word, misguided. One wonders, was the film prohibited for some incomprehensible reason from being really scary?

 

Enjoy Søs Fenger and Elisabeth Gjerulff Nielsen's misguided title song here

 

Cost: 4.5 mil. DKK, approximately 0.61 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 4.8 mil. DKK, approximately 0.65 mil. $

= Uncertain, but likely a big flop (projected return of 1.32 times its cost)

[Sidste Time was released 22 February (Germany) and runs 77 minutes. Shooting took place for 18 days in a school in Hørsholm, Zealand, Denmark, which was offered for the production because it was closed for reconstruction due to widespread mold decay. In Denmark the film sold 118,496 tickets, coming to 4.8 mil. DKK, based on the average 41 DKK ticket prize at the time. Regrettably there is no info available on the film's performance in Germany, Norway and Finland, where it was also released. Most likely it was tiny releases in those countries, and with a projected final gross of 6 mil. DKK/0.81 mil. $, the film would rank as a big flop. Schmidt returned with Mørkeleg (1996). 1,2k+ IMDb users have given Sidste Time a 5.8/10 average rating.]

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Sprængfarlig Bombe (2006) - The two Jensens' satire is unrefined but hilarious

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Two distinct layers of society, members of the lower class and of the higher creative class, meet on this fun-promising poster for Tomas Villum Jensen's Clash of Egos

Tonny, a modern caveman recently released after serving a stint in prison for violence, works at a garbage station and has just lost visitation rights to see his children, when he snaps over an awful local art film that he has recently bought tickets for.

Clash of Egos is written by Anders Thomas Jensen (The Salvation (2014)) and directed by Tomas Villum Jensen (Love at First Hiccough/Kærlighed ved Første Hik (1999)). The Danish title translates to 'highly charged bomb'.
Both Ulrich Thomsen (Hitman (2007)) as Tonny and Nikolaj Lie Kaas (Max (2000)) as the art film's director Claus Volter are excellent and play their opposed characters with real panache.
The central idea of a primitive brute meeting a pretentious art film snoot is funny and original, and the film has lots of funny moments.
Clash of Egos could have been even better, if the production hadn't looked like rubbish; if Volter's ridiculous art film had been presented sharper; and if the writing had been a little smarter here and there. But these minor complaints don't rob the film of its considerable laughs and primed stars.

Watch a clip from the beginning of the film here, where Tonny has made the mistake of taking his kids to see an inappropriate art film in the cinema

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Uncertain - likely in excess of 2.82 mil. $
= Uncertain - but likely a huge flop
[Sprængfarlig Bombe was released 25 August (Denmark) and runs 90 minutes. Shooting took place in Denmark, including Copenhagen. The film sold 272,140 tickets in production country Denmark, making it a solid hit locally in the small Danish market. It was shown at 4 minor film festivals and released in 2 foreign markets subsequently, likely with negligible grosses. If made on a realistic 20 mil. DKK budget, approximately 2.95 mil. $, the film should likely rank as a huge flop theatrically. It was nominated for a Robert award (Denmark's Oscar). Jensen returned with Ved Verdens Ende (2009). Thomsen returned in Der Liebeswunsch (2006); Kaas in Pu-239 (2006). 2,225 IMDb-users have given Sprængfarlig Bombe a 6.0/10 average rating.]

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