Review of Terribly Happy (2008) by Matt B — 03 Aug 2010

This movie to me was Hot Fuzz meets Clay Pigeons. I watched this one night on Netflix just because it looked interesting and I am glad I did. It is a chilling little thriller set in a remote Danish village where all the residents are odd by just about everybody's standards.

Jakob Cedergren plays a disgraced big city Copenhagen police officer who is given a second chance by being sent to an out of the way small town to become the town's new marshal. The only resident to welcome him at first is the doctor played by Lars Brygmann who informs him about the town's quirky characters.

Another resident who takes an immediate liking to the new marshal is Ingelise Buhl, the beautiful battered wife of the town bully Jorgen. The town gives the rookie marshal a cold reception at first but Ingelise falls in love with him and makes no attempt to hide her affection for him.

This sets up a good old fashioned showdown between Robert the cop and the drunken enraged Jorgen. The director Henrik Ruben Genz does a wonderful job building tension in this film. The style of the film reminded me of the Coen Brothers Blood Simple or David Lynch's Blue Velvet.

A wonderful movie.