Aberdeen (2000)

good back-story, and good acting

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Aberdeen is a unique piece, with an interesting soundtrack, PERFECT acting, and an outstanding plot. As mentioned earlier, it's so very European with its realism. Slow, but rewarding. Also, I think Stellan Skarsgård is the best actor ever! Not just this movie, but his other stuff as well. Especially Insomnia and this one. He's just brilliant. I've also seen his son on Ondskan, so I'll simply try to watch every movie that has anything to do with the Skarsgård family from now on! I can only think of Rutger Hauer who might be as good as him. Lena Headey is also adorable. She's got goddess looks, and the best of acting skills. Such great actors and a nice story makes Aberdeen a wonderful movie. Aberdeen is nothing like a Hollywood movie, but despite what it seems, neither is it exactly one of those movies which are crowned by intellectual-wannabes as masterpieces just because they're boring as hell. If you like Tarkovsky or Klimov, you'll dislike this movie. If you like Hollywood, you'll hate this movie. (And it'll hate you too!) If you weren't disgusted by the superficiality of Love Actually, you'll be disgusted by the depth of this movie. But if you're interested in the works of relatively new generation Scandinavian directors, then Aberdeen will look fine to you. All in all, it could have been much better with, say, Lars Von Trier, but it's also pretty darn good as it is. 8.5/10 - Recommended!

Heart wrenching film that knocks you down, then lifts you up only to knock you down again. It is tough to see the desperate alcoholism of Tomas, particularly in the scene where he is mocked, bullied, and beaten up by well dressed drunken strangers whom he approaches to buy cans of beer.Stellan Skarsgård is brilliant as the drunken father, and so is Ian Hart as the saintly lorry driver. This film will give you an insight into the dynamics of a family ripped apart by addiction and our need to see dignity in those closest to us.There were a couple of things that could have improved this film for me. Firstly, the principle character, Kaisas scottish accent is somewhat unconvincing. Secondly, all urban scenes in the odyssey through Britain from Harrow to Aberdeen, are shot in the city centre and west end of Glasgow. This really affected the realism and appeal of the film for me.

As I was watching this film, I was berating myself for my carelessness. I was sure Aberdeen was another movie by the director of that film I hated: Breaking the Waves. Stellan Skarsgard, sordid Scotland, etc., these two films have much in common. Hans Petter Moland clearly admires Lars von Trier's earlier film. Aberdeen is an ambitious film but Moland is too inexperienced to provide the imaginative counterpoint the story requires. Occasionally, scenes seem clumsily attenuated, or awkwardly deflated, I kept waiting for the film to find its rhythm. It never does.The performances are good, but Lena Headey can't do for Aberdeen what Emily Watson did for Breaking the Waves, that is, make it worth watching.

Didn't realize Norway was so close to England did you? Hottie hotshot London lawyer flies to Norway to fetch her boozehound Dad to take her to Scotland to see the Mom, who's rapidly dying of cancer. Filling this dying request for her Mom proves a lot harder than it sounds. The Dad is a total mess, completely ruled by drink and incapable of even boarding the airplane before he smashes his booze bottle all over the ticket counter, and earns them both an airline ban. The movie here gathers steam, as the two make alternate arrangements to get to Aberdeen. Along the way, they rediscover each other after their 15 year estrangement. Pretty powerful in spots. I was really taken by this film. More really the action and scenery than the plot, which was just a little too much of a contrivance. And maybe I'm messed up in the head, but there was an incestual undertone to their relationship that bugged me. But the performances are stellar and character development expertly done. I happen to think Norway is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I'd happily watch a Discovery channel special on the Fjords. Getting this rare opportunity to see a film using Norway as part of the backdrop was a decided treat. Getting the opportunity of seeing Lena Headey for 2 hours wasn't too bad of a deal either. Good late night flick.