Just Another Love Story (18)

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The ViewLondon Review

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Review byMatthew Turner22/07/2009

Three out of Five stars
Running time: 104 mins

Enjoyable, impressively edited Danish noir thriller with an intriguingly twist-laden script and superb performances from Anders W Berthelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas.

What's it all about?
Directed by Ole Bornedal, Just Another Love Story stars Anders W Berthelsen as married photographer Jonas, who witnesses a car accident and becomes obsessed with the victim, Julia (Rebecka Hemse), who ends up in a coma. Visiting her in hospital, he allows her concerned family to believe that he's her boyfriend Sebastien, a deception he continues even after she wakes up (with apparent - and convenient - memory loss).

Meanwhile, Jonas's wife, Mette (Charlotte Fich) is becoming increasingly suspicious of her husband's behaviour. And when the real Sebastien (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) turns up, things take a nasty turn.

The Good
Just Another Love Story plays very much like a Danish film noir version of While You Were Sleeping, with hints of psychological horror and bits of Vertigo thrown in for good measure. To that effect, it's brilliantly edited, particularly during the scenes where Jonas is starting to lose it and mixing up his two relationships in his head.

Berthelsen and Kaas (who, between them, are in just about every Danish movie you've ever seen) are both excellent and there's strong support from Dejan Cukic as Jonas's weird best friend Frank, who gives really bad relationship advice.

The Bad
The main problem is that the Sunset Boulevard-style lying-bleeding-in-the-rain framing scenes are too much of a cliche to work properly here, particularly as they remove any suspense as to where the story is heading. Similarly, though the plot is intriguing and the script is generally good, Jonas's sudden obsession with Julia is never convincingly explained, particularly as his home life is so apparently happy.

Worth seeing?
Though not quite as good as it could have been, Just Another Love Story is still an enjoyable slice of Danish noir, thanks to a smartly written script and strong performances from Berthelsen and Kaas.
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Just Another Love Story (18)
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Content updated: 28/05/2012 07:24

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