Ah, now this one wasn’t just a highlight for me but ended up winning the Best Film prize at the Virtual LFF Audience Awards for 2020 (voted for by the viewers for the first time).
Another Round
Dir. Thomas Vinterburg / Dur. 115 mins
Strand:- Journey
In A Nutshell:- A group of middle-aged teachers decide to validate a study which says that maintaining a constant level of alcohol in your blood actually enhances performance…
The Good:- Mads Mikkelsen plays Martin, a forty-something teacher who is drifting through his work, his family life and his friendships. At a friend’s birthday dinner (all of whom work at the same school), the decision is made to follow an experiment through - they will drink to a consistent level during their working hours to see if their abilities are enhanced. You can probably guess where this is ultimately going to go but that doesn’t make the journey any less enjoyable. Funny and at times heartfelt and heart wrenching, the cast are all on fine form, as you would expect from Mikkelsen but he is more than ably assisted by his co-stars. It’s the sort of film that it’s almost impossible not to get swept along by and you also get a chance to see Mikkelsen show off his dancing skills. It also handles the switch from the comedy to the tragedy of drunkenness very well (with the comedy being highlighted in a sequence where the four of them attempt a drunken shopping trip with a hint of fishing).
The Bad:- It’s a minor criticism but there’s an element of the ending that feels a little too feelgood (particularly given that this is from the same director that gave us the no-holds-barred Festen back in the 90s) but this didn’t impact my overall enjoyment of the film.
The Verdict:- It won the top prize of the festival and I’d say deservedly so. An amusing but sobering (sorry notsorry) look at how the routines of middle-aged life can suddenly overwhelm you and provoke a desire to run everything upside down for a chance to go back to the person you were.
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