Solkongen (2005)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Tomas Villum Jensen

Writers:

Anders Thomas Jensen (writer)
Tomas Villum Jensen (writer)

Release Date:

11 February 2005 (Denmark)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

While changing the pipes in the tanningbeds at Golden Sun, Tommy meets the owner. A middleaged former Miss Fyn called Susse...

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Tommy
Birthe Neumann	...	Susse
Thomas Bo Larsen	...	Flemming Kok
Niels Olsen	...	Ole Finland
Peter Gantzler	...	Johannes
Mira Wanting	...	Stine
Lotte Andersen	...	Grethe (as Lotte Merete Andersen)
Kirsten Lehfeldt	...	Tommys mor
Jens Okking	...	Tommys far
Ole Thestrup	...	Leif
Kristian Halken	...	Læge
Arne Siemsen	...	Ekspedienten
Kjeld Nørgaard	...	Skovfoged
Ib Frendø	...	Præst
Stephanie Leon	...	Forbrændt pige

Also Known As:

The Sun King (International: English title)

Runtime:

Denmark:86 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Denmark:7 | Singapore:NC-16

Filming Locations:

Svendborg, Fyn, Denmark

Company:

Thura Film

Trivia:

The film earned three Robert Award Nominations in 2006; Best Actress (Birthe Neumann), Best Supporting Actress (Kirsten Lehfeldt) and Best Title Song (Nightbird by Maria Montell)

Movie Connections:

References A Room with a View (1985)

Soundtrack:

Dream On Dreamer

Good acting, poor script!

Many people have said that Solkongen is one of the funniest films of 2005 and it was with that in mind that I sat down the other night to see the film. Expecting some big laughs. They didn't really come, however. They did occur but they didn't come as often as I had hoped. The story is fairly simple and this works fine. The characters are card board characters. You immediately see who is who and what the individual's goals are and this provides for a somewhat predictable narrative structure. In fact a little bit too simple.

The always good Nikolaj Lie Kaas is the main character and to be honest I wasn't impressed. His timing worked and the character as well but it wasn't anything we hadn't seen from him before. He has played some weird characters in the past and the character of Tommy is just another one. Birthe Neuman is excellent. Its nice to see her in this kind of role just to see that she can do that as well. Niels Olsen and Thomas Bo Larsen are both great and produce the best laughs of the film. Olsen with his incredible facial expressions and Larsen with his obnoxious attitude. Kirsten Lehfeldt and Jens Okking are criminally underused in their parts and I think the film should have been at least 10-15 minutes longer if only to get some more scenes with them. Peter Ganzler is the villainous character that you know from the beginning is going to take a punch at some point. All in all card board characters held up by great actors.

The script and overall writing is the film's main problem. The dialog is bulky and unbelievable and the story seems rushed and at times just flat out ridiculous and stoned. Almost as if the writer was on drugs while he was writing. The story is as previously stated predictable and that is a shame because the actors deserve better writing than this and I genuinely believe that the film could have been much better if the writing hadn't been so poor.

The film looks like a typical Danish film, plain and uninspired, so there is really not much point in commenting further on that.

Solkongen is a nice effort with great performances from the cast but the below average script does that the film never rises above an average grade.

6/10