After the Wedding (Efter Brylluppet)

I really liked Susanne Bier's Brothers, and I really wanted to love this her latest and most ambitious, and say that Wells was wrong on this one, but there are weaknesses in this film.

Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) plays Jacob, the owner of an orphanage in Bombay who is forced by rich, loudmouthed, charity donator Jörgen - played excellently by Swedish Rolf Lassgård - to come to Denmark for Jörgen's daughter's wedding. As the title implies, something is revealed after the wedding that unravels the lives of all those involved.


The problem with the film is the secret is revealed early on, and the mystery of Jacob's and Jörgen's motives not that shocking or even original. While there are certainly some powerful scenes, and some great performances - Lassgård and this little Indian kid Pramod (Neeral Mulchandani) stick out in my mind - I found the plot somewhat rote, and nothing we really haven't seen before.

While it's still a good film about losing control, or realizing that there are certain things in life beyond control, the weakness in the plotting still brings the film down a notch.