Four More Years (2010)

Powerful

Excellent but underrated film

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

I was one of those eagerly waiting for the (belated) release of this movie when at last it arrived in 2010, and I was not disappointed. Now, four years later, I still find this story as fun and charming as I did then.For better or worse, this is a rather typical Swedish romantic comedy, with a rather typical love story at its center, but that's no reason not to see it. There are quite a few twists and turns to this story and Magnusson has done a great job of portraying both the Swedish political climate as well as modern and older popular culture and the Swedish society. Especially interesting, I think, is how being an openly homosexual politician is treated as a non-issue: it poses no real threat to David's political career. Instead, it is David's own struggle with his newfound identity that stands in his way and prevents him from seeing what is best for him as a private person, rather than a public person. The comedy is not only in the jokes about the Swedish culture and political parties, but in the identity crisis and the re-discovering of one's self that David goes through, gorging on goat cheese and watching rented Beck-movies, that anyone can recognize, understand and laugh at. In laughing at David, we also laugh at ourselves. To me, this movie is great. Fun, adorable and very spot on when it comes to the jokes. The acting is brilliant and I fall in love with David and Martin's love story over and over again, as I find it very believable and authentic. Mauro Scocco, while no favorite artist of mine, has provided the movie with an excellent soundtrack that can sadly never be fully translated into or justified in English, and there are several instances where not only the music but the lyrics carry the viewer from scene to scene, mood to mood, and it is beautiful.Unfortunately, I think a lot of the reasons why I love this movie get lost in translation. The English subtitles fail to communicate even half of the small jokes and hints that get tossed back and forth between the actors, which makes the English translation fall utterly short of the, in Swedish, excellent dialog. A lot of the jokes, particularly those about the different Swedish political parties, makes little to no sense if you are not familiar with their ideologies or the common prejudices about them. While it might be comprehensible why a Social Democrat-Liberal relationship is the Swedish equivalent of Romeo & Juliet, I don't think it comes across why this should be a worse stigma than being a homosexual politician in Sweden – or maybe that's just me. There are many things in this movie that a lot of people can relate to and enjoy, and to anyone who enjoys watching a realistic take on love and life, you should definitely watch it.

Four More Years is the lighthearted and charming story of a forty-something Swedish politician named David, the leader of a political party, whose wife Fia is his chief aide and adviser.In the aftermath of a disastrous election, which instead of making him Prime Minister as expected loses his party almost all its influence in parliament, David falls in love with Martin, a younger, openly gay leader of the opposition party that trounced David's in the election. (The movie was directed by the actress who plays Fia.) There follows an Adam's Rib sort of dilemma, with lovers on opposite sides of a professional matter of great importance to both - in addition to David's anxiety over coming out as gay.Americans will have a hard time believing politicians of opposing parties ANYWHERE can treat each other with unfailing mild-mannered courtesy, but it may well be true that Swedish politicians actually are civilized human beings, unlike the snarling savages who dominate American politics.And gay American men may not recognize the intensity of the passion between David and Martin. I think the two guys are very sexy, both individually and together, but viewers conditioned by the hairless twenty-something gym bunnies and feral copulation that distinguish American gay movies will find these two men unattractive.Anybody looking for fireworks - either political or sexual - will be disappointed in this movie; but as a look at how civilized, mature (but not old) gay men with serious interests outside of themselves might behave, Four More Years is a revelation and a welcome breath of fresh air in the world of gay movies.All the performances are good, the dialog is intelligent, the story is not as predictable as it could be, and there are some very entertaining supporting characters - particularly David's mother and Martin's father. I enjoyed the movie enough to watch it again right now.

This film provides a very different take on the effects of secret desire on public office in otherwise open minded Sweden and how it also affects the relationships of the individuals involved. A bold romantic comedy that pushes boundaries on several thematic levels, this i another brilliant gay themed Swedish film after Patrick 1,5 a few years ago.David Holst has just lost the election he was slated to win. His good looks, political savvy, and humor made him the front-runner for the Prime Minister of Sweden, but his lead has suddenly taken a downfall. It is during this time of disappointment that he meets Martin in an elevator and falls head over heels in love. Despite his marriage to his closest co-worker, Fia, and his professed heterosexuality, David pursues a relationship with Martin only to find out that Martin is the Secretary of State for the political party that beat him in the recent election. He is very confused on what to do. He tries his best but cannot control his desire to be with Martin. He just cannot control it and their very meaningful and pleasant affair stars. But can the double whammy of not only falling for a man, but also a political opponent, ever allow the two to be together. They have a falling out when David feels that Martin is cheating on him. He decides to break up and comes out to his wife. After a series of events, the two men decide to give it another shot because they both think that they fit in so well with each other but this time also some misunderstanding happens. Finally when David gives in that he will be forever lonely, when Martin comes in one final time to get back together, David refuses despite wanting him so bad saying that he cannot be selfish and just think of himself. He needs to think of his party too. But thanks to Fia, sense prevails before major damage can be done and finally the lovers reunite.The dialogues in the film are witty and the characters behave in ways that people find very comforting. There is a maturity in the interactions that you typically don't see in American film. I loved the interactions of both t he men when they visit David's parents. The overall story is very heart warming and its comedic tone is a nice compliment. Watching lot of bad films has given me some idea on how to appreciate a good film. The film gets a little preachy when there are too many discussions around politics but the comic tone helps to keep the check. I felt at a point that it is being stretched by that did not bother me too much. The best thing is that the 2 actors were chosen based on their characters. They are not averagely attractive but that suits the character who end up developing such a refreshing bond between them which is both sexual and friendly.Highly recommended. It had love, mature romance, comedy and drama.

This is a story about love between two men, one is a right wing and the other is a left wing politician. It's a new stage but the same story we've seen many times before. And the directing by Tova Magnusson-Norling is nothing to applaud.Björn Kjellman and Eric Ericson are both good actors, but there is a lack of chemistry between them.This can be a good film for the everyday-family who doesn't want to see too much of a love story between two men. But if you want to see a movie with more depth and a movie who dare to show more of the sexual nature between homosexuals, then this is not the right movie.