Portland (1996)

"An ever accelerating surrealism towards the end"

The basic story of a young criminal not quite living up to his won ideals of "not to give a damn" sidesteps out of his criminal career while dragging his younger brother into it, could have been interesting. Unfortunately the implementation is simply not good enough. As so often with Danish movies, there is little appreciation for detail thus leaving us with hoodlums talking like they've done time at a business academy rather than a prison. Dialects completely out of here and idiosyncratic bikers without bikes or even character for that matter. An ever accelerating surrealism towards the end doesn't help to clear the slow pace of this film but it does give a glimpse of what the story could have unfolded to become.

Niels Arden OplevDirector