Just Another Love Story - Movie Review

Just Another Love Story is a Danish Noir-Thriller released in 2007. The edgy film begins with the narrator descending slowly upon a body lying in the rain, describing the elements of neo-noir. It is a self-assessment. The body, the rain, the police tape...the woman....there is always a woman...

Jonah (which is Hanoi backwards...in Danish, apparently) works as a crime-scene photographer. He fantasizes about the freedom and travel he would experience as a National Geographic photographer. He lives vicariously through the magazine, while swallowing his own pill of photographing dead lovers and, sometimes, dead children. His job barely pays the rent and definitely won't cover the new car his wife of ten years (Mette) keeps nagging him to get.

When Jonah's car breaks down unexpectedly on the highway, his life suddenly intersects with a mysterious young lady named Julia. Julia's anxiety is portrayed in the moments leading up to their initial meeting through an animated distracting cell phone call drowned out by the films soundtrack. Julia looks up quick enough to swerve to avoid hitting Jonah and his family, striking a car in the other lane instead. The accident leaves Julia with amnesia and blurred vision.

Curiosity seizes Jonah and drives him to visit her in the hospital. His trip leads to a misunderstanding that causes Jonah to begin a lengthy deception. One lie leads to another until Jonah finds his own life consumed by his desire for Julia and his own family sacrificed for his sense of freedom. But Julia has a dark past that will eventually catch up to their intersecting stories. Actions have consequences which converge at the double-ending of the film.

Just Another Love Story takes coincidence to the extreme and asks viewers to suspend belief long enough to be entertained by an engaging story of suspense. The characters are richly crafted with an openness that seemed very foreign to me. Their interactions were unpredictable and interesting, if not entirely believable. The plot lines tie together three vignettes introduced at the opening of the film and tie them together tightly by the end. Between the character depth and strong dialogue, I found it easy to suspend belief long enough to be entertained by this interesting tale.

Cast:

Jonah Anders Berthelsen
Mette Charlotte Fich
Julia Rebecka Hemse
Sebastian Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Frank Dejan Cukic

Berthelsen has a mild Russell Crowe-thing going on. His movement between passion, melancholy and an eerie distance were impressive. His skills were captured well in this film. Fich and Hemse act as the wife and lover in this film and both bring unique traits to their roles. Fich is believable as a spouse in a stagnant relationship but still maintains a sensuality that engages the audience. Hemse isn't drop dead gorgeous, but her role is manipulative (maybe even contrived) and captures the imagination of the audience. Her chemistry with Berthelsen never seems to evolve, but her performance was great. Kaas is the dark past as Sebastian. His role is limited but intense. Kaas gives the role the right degree of awkwardness to make viewers uneasy with his presence on film. Cukic takes the role of Frank, Jonah's best friend and opportunist. The film was cast with the right actors to make the roles engaging.

Just Another Love Story contains an inordinate amount of nudity and sensuality. Aside from a discussion about sex with a comatose woman, there are some steamy scenes that show full frontal nudity with a very tight camera shot. Other naked bodies are used as backdrops in a morgue scene, with the ample nudity almost an after-thought. The sensuality in the sex scenes make them unsuitable for pre-teen audiences. The film contains violence, murder, murdered children that are never actually shown and language. This film was not intended for young audiences and should probably be reserved for at least the mid-teens or older. Run time is one hour, forty minutes.

The cinematography in Just Another Love Story felt contrived at times, but visually stimulating at others. The accident scene employed visually appealing special effects that appeared to slow the action down and allow viewers to watch the shifting angles of flying glass inside a tumbling automobile. The framing of the scenes and other neo-noir cinematic elements such as lighting and camera angles were appealing. The special effects and visual elements were enjoyably different.

Just Another Love Story wasn't perfect. The story feels contrived at times, especially as the ending approaches. Yet the visual appeal, acting, dialogue and themes were all engaging. The performances brought the elements together to a point where it was almost nearing reality. The film has a nice flavor and an interesting story to tell. I would recommend this film. 7.5/10.