The Candidate (2008)
"Kandidaten" (original title)

Jonas Bechmann, a defense attorney, is a man of the system. Until the day he himself is accused of murder. Taking matters into his own hands, he throws himself into the hunt for a group of ... See full summary »

Director:

Kasper Barfoed

Writer:

Stefan Jaworski

Stars:

Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Ulf Pilgaard, Laura Christensen

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nikolaj Lie Kaas	...	Jonas Bechmann
Ulf Pilgaard	...	Martin Schiller
Laura Christensen	...	Louise
Tuva Novotny	...	Camilla
David Dencik	...	Michael
Kim Bodnia	...	Claes Kiehlert
Henning Jensen	...	Peter Bechmann
Jesper Langberg	...	Jørgen Hammel
Birgitte Hjort Sørensen	...	Sarah
Henning Valin Jakobsen	...	Afpresser 1
Claus Riis Østergaard	...	Afpresser 2
Peter Plaugborg	...	Den Tynde Mand
Henrik Prip	...	Henrik Linde
Marijana Jankovic	...	Kathrine Malling
Iben Dorner	...	Schillers Assistent (as Iben Amelieh Emine Dorner)

Storyline

Jonas Bechmann, a defense attorney, is a man of the system. Until the day he himself is accused of murder. Taking matters into his own hands, he throws himself into the hunt for a group of blackmailers who threaten to expose him as the killer. But nothing is what it appears to be, and the blackmail links back to his father's death under mysterious circumstances a year and a half earlier.

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Plot Keywords:

bound and gagged | hands tied behind back | hood over head

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Genres:

Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish

Release Date:

29 August 2008 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

A jelölt

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miso Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Smagsdommerne: Episode #8.2 (2008)

User Reviews

Interesting idea, but irritatingly flawed

The successful defence lawyer Johan is obsessed with getting back on the men that he thinks killed his father, which also was a lawyer, which lost a case he should have won, just before he was driven off the road. He tries to get his father's old job, which we really don't understand why. He's not getting this job, because the seniors in the company are against it. Why is later revealed.

The plot takes off nicely, and you're well into the film when you think it's exciting and well written, when the first irritating stupidity puts you a bit baffled. Johan acts not reasonable several times, like when talking to his girlfriend, choosing to follow a friend, out in the woods, when meeting a convict and when getting answers. A pity, because the plot is good! And without these it could be excellent.

It seems our protagonist Johan has big problems in communicating. This is only understandable when talking to his girlfriend, because we've seen that they really don't communicate. Is it possible to be a top lawyer without being able to communicate better!? Not in my book... And then he's not acting rationally. This makes it difficult to really like him. He's not not likable. And all in all the film has in a way a strange and unnatural dialog.

If this is the manuscript, or the direction, I don't know. But Arcel has later proved to be an excellent writer in later films and when directing them himself. And then he is really too well under surveillance. And when he understands, he does nothing about it. Over and over he acts stupid. It's OK being afraid, but he does always react like he's not afraid just afterwards. And then he proves to be a master shooter when getting hands on a gun!

The film is kept in dark and bleak colors, making it realistic and "lawyerish". Very Scandinavian crime-like. The actors are the best, but they have too little to act upon. And in the end they realize this, and starts acting bad. The last minutes are unbearable to watch.

Everything here could have been great, but it isn't. And twist and turns should make it exciting as can be. You'll only enjoy this if you don't expect too much. I did, due to knowing Danish film was at it's very best some years earlier. Instead, pick up "Headhunters" which is really built the same way, but is everything this film isn't. This tries to be exciting, but is just better avoided.