Buddy (2003)

Kristoffer is a billboard hanger, 24 years old and carefree. When his girlfriend Elisabeth dumps him for the boss of her trend bureau, his life falls into pieces. He feels like a loser. By ... See full summary »

Director:

Morten Tyldum

Writers:

Lars Gudmestad, Tom Gulbrandsen (script consultant)

Stars:

Nicolai Cleve Broch, Aksel Hennie, Anders Baasmo Christiansen

6 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nicolai Cleve Broch	...	Kristoffer Haukeland
Aksel Hennie	...	Geir
Anders Baasmo Christiansen	...	Stig Inge Otnes
Pia Tjelta	...	Henriette
Janne Formoe	...	Elisabeth
Henrik Giæver	...	Martin
Kim Haugen	...	Karsten
Håvard Bakke	...	Dag
Eivind Sander	...	Anders
Anna Bache-Wiig	...	Line
Christian Skolmen	...	Nikolai
Edward Schultheiss	...	Frode
Dagrun Anholt	...	Irene
Hilde Olausson	...	Anne
Cathrin Gram	...	Ingunn (as Cathrine Gram)

Storyline

Kristoffer is a billboard hanger, 24 years old and carefree. When his girlfriend Elisabeth dumps him for the boss of her trend bureau, his life falls into pieces. He feels like a loser. By coincidence some of Kristoffer's video diaries end up with the producer of the popular talk show "Karsten Tonight" in TV2. A few weeks later Kristoffer's life has become TV entertainment. People love the sequences from his commune at Tøyen: Kristoffer's half-twisted view of his surroundings, his crazy best friend Geir, not to mention the weird web designer Stig Inge, who hasn't set foot outside the Tøyen shopping center for two years. Kristoffer's future again looks bright, everyone likes him, but revealing your life on national television comes with a price tag. As Kristoffer's future in the TV business looks brighter and brighter, his friends start suffering. Geir's big secret is revealed, and Stig Inge's personal problems are much more serious than Kristoffer first thought. It will cost him a ...

---

Plot Keywords:

secret | best friend | video diary | shopping | love | 

---

Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

---

Details

Country:

Norway

Language:

Norwegian

Release Date:

29 August 2003 (Norway)

Also Known As:

Haverok

Filming Locations:

Oslo, Norway

Company Credits

Production Co:

Happy Endings A/S, Pan Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The director and writer wanted a smaller and neurotic version of Stig Inge, but when 'Anders Baasmo Kristiansen' came in for audition, they soon realized that Anders was exactly the type they wanted

---

Quotes

Geir: Kristoffer, sometimes you have to let go of the goalie and attack with both hands.

---

Connections

References Ricki Lake (1992)

---

Soundtracks

"Lullaby"
Performed by Maria Mena

User Reviews

Touching and warmly acted despite a forced plot and some feelgood manipulation

Buddy (2003)

A quirky low budget film with a strain of realism holding its absurdity together. There are some implausible twists of plot, and a general feeling that it could have been both more poignant and more tightly edited. But it is most of all very sweet, and because of that it's touching and a nice film, something to watch with expectations in check.

The key here is really the straight forward storytelling style, the ordinary camera-work, the feeling that contemporary Norway looks and feels a bit like this. There is a sadness to a lot of it that seems forced and yet is moving. The romantic encounters are believable and just wrong and awkward enough to remind us of what it was like to be 20-something and completely tossed around in relationships.

In fact, the best of this movie--two or three of the leading actors, for starters--is so good and natural you only wish it had the rest of its act in order. But then, if you make it to the end, you'll either smile or cry because you'll be a bit attached to the actors by then. Fun.