Best movie ever!

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Saw this recently on a rented DVD. This is the follow up to the Keeper of lost causes. In this film, both Nikolaj n Fares need to solve another case because some time has passed since the success of their first case and their reputation is going down. A bereaved ex-cop appeals to Nicolaj to solve the murder of his two children. The ex cop kills himself after being refused. Feeling guilty, our two cops begin looking into the case, with all leads initially pointing towards an elite boarding school. Their search for the truth takes them in some unexpected places n a bandaged nose. Nicolaj after being attacked, gets a bandaged nose, a nod to Jack Nicholson's character from Chinatown. The plot may not be new or there may not be enuff mystery but the movie was captivating to hold your interest till the end. It's much more darker, obscene and gruesome than its predecessor. Its more of a crime tale n less of a mystery. Found it to be a lil disappointing because its not in the same league as its predecessor specially when it comes to suspense n tension. This film has lots flashbacks like the first one. Nonetheless it got saved by strong performances by all. Fares gave a very good performance n Nikolaj too gave a nice performance. A decent police procedural crime tale.

For a decade a so, the term "Scandinavian crime" has been a sign of quality in the film world, and I have tried to watch them as much as possible - luckily it is no Bollywood... The film in question is the second one in line (after Kvinden i buret) where the detective duet Carl Mørck and Assad have to solve a felony happening over 20 years back, enabling to take a glance at the world of "Danish rich and spoiled". The tension is nicely there (although somewhat less than in the first film), and, in addition to as-usual fine performances by Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Fares Fares as the leading characters, one can follow the talents of Pilou Asbæk and David Dencik who are also versatile character actors (plus Søren Pilmark in a small role). So, unless you are fond of constant chases, explosions, shootings, etc., this film (with captious title) is a pleasant example of a crime thriller with mystery elements, where human attitudes and relations play the biggest part, and deducing is the main factor in solving crimes.

Last week, a populist, right-wing anti-immigration party won the general elections in Denmark. There's a small hint of the increasing Danish aversion against immigrants in 'The Absent One': when a pr-executive is beaten up by two businessmen, the newspapers' headlines state that he is beaten up by immigrants. I would have liked more of this in the film. As it is now, 'The Absent One' is a standard crime thriller. There are hardly any connections to the broader society: the script focuses on the crime and nothing else. At the same time, the excellent script is really the backbone of the movie. It's intelligent, and slowly moves forward with just enough revelations to keep the suspense intact, without the complications or twists that make many crime scripts hard to follow. Also nice are the regular flashbacks to the period of the crime, which is now a cold case, getting renewed attention because of the suicide of a retired policeman. The problem is that the film doesn't have anything that makes it stand out. It's a good, solid thriller, but nothing more than that. It even inclines to overdoing things, which is a shame in a film like this. The ending, with the policemen miraculously saved from a seemingly hopeless situation, is a cliché. The same goes for the state of mind of the lead character: a workaholic policeman, who has too little attention for his son and has no problem bending the rules in order to get the villains.

The second feature film with cinema release for the Jussi Adler- Olsen novels following "The keeper of lost causes" (originally "Kvinden i buret") is a let down from the first in many ways. The title "The absent one" is again more suitable than the original title Fasandræberne (which is translated Killers of pheasants).Both the director and the main characters are still there, and the plot is interesting enough, maybe even more interesting in the first film. Still I'm afraid. Still this is bargaining to follow up the "nordic noir" label, which is does quite well. This is the gloomy side of Denmark, or Copenhagen, which is never mentioned anywhere in the film. And there's no landmarks of the Danish capitol visible here, either. Indeep if they are trying to depict Copenhagen. Well, never mind.The plot: A drunk, later revealed former police chief approaching detective Carl Mørck, not very interested, until the day after when the same man is found after suicide in his bathtub. He starts following the strange case of the mans two teenage children is killed 20 years ago, very close to a posh boarding school for the rich. No more should be revealed here now.The film manages to get you interested, and is neatly done, like the first which I gave a 7/10 on IMDb. This however grows stale before the first hour has went away. The plot is simply too implausible, at least as shown on the film, implying top connections to most top sides of the Danish society. Many of these threads are not followed up.The Scandinavian title is also very misleading, hence there's hardly any sign of, and surely no mention of pheasants here. OK, we understand that this is case in the novel, and that they are rich hunters. But still this is way off.The main character is also not at all helpless, and this annoys you so much in the end, that it ruins the film for me. I guess the novel treats this way better and more plausible, but here is just too far fetched, even for a film with a two hour run.When it comes to acting, they are all doing a great job, as always in Danish film. That the script here is lacking is a pity, but maybe it was too far much to put into a movie. I guess many scenes ended up on the cutting floor. I admire Nicolaj Arcel for his script writing, but this is far from his best work.A good start for this "cold-case dramatization) with the first film, is pointing down already. Too bad. Or is it possible to hope for a recovering, if there's a third?