The title of this Swedish drama portends something a little jollier than a pudgy adolescent’s anxieties. And yet there’s also some lightness in this story about teenage Rille, the older—but more socially awkward—of two brothers. Rille craves the attention of the his intermittently attentive father, who seems to have more of an affinity to the popular Erik, despite, as it turns out, there being some question as to his paternity.
Only while playing ping pong does Rille feel a sense of competence and authority, but even that gets undermined as things develop. Cowriter-director Jens Jonsson goes for a certain quirkiness rather than emphasizing the pathos in Rille’s plight. The story meanders at first, but a well-drawn main character, good performances by the child actors (all first timers), and Jonsson’s strong use of the snowy countryside mostly make up for the deficiencies.
IMDB link
viewed at Ritz East (Philadelphia Film Festival) and reviewed 4/3/09
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