Christopher is having money problems; much of what he owns was given to him by his friend Steingrímur; his wife Iris jokes that he even got her the same way! With the landlord threatening to evict him from his home he agrees to Steingrímur suggestion that he return to his old smuggling ways and bring a consignment of vodka from The Netherlands; Steingrímur will fund the operation and they will split the profits fifty-fifty. While Christopher sails for Rotterdam a drug dealer and his thugs start intimidating his wife for reasons that aren't immediately obvious. Aboard ship he and his shipmates work out where they will hide all the vodka so that the captain won't find it. Meanwhile another crewmate finds where he has hidden the money. After arriving in Rotterdam the lack of money could prove a problem but their contact forces Christopher and a friend to help them with an art heist as payment. As they return to Iceland it becomes obvious that Steingrímur isn't the friend Christopher thought he was. When he gets back he will have problems with the police, the drug dealer and Steingrímur.
When I picked this film on DVD I knew nothing about it; the blurb on the box made it look interesting and I didn't have any Icelandic films in my collection so I bought it I'm pleased that I did. The story is interesting with some fine action as well as a surprising amount of comedy. This comedy is unforced; based entirely on amusing incidents rather than silliness or comic dialogue. The cast do an impressive job; especially Baltasar Kormákur who gives a standout performance as Christopher; also notable are Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as Steingrímur and Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir as Iris. The action is good without being over the top; I particularly liked when the ship arrived in Rotterdam and it looked as if it wasn't going to stop in time and the art heist scene. As the film approaches its conclusion the tension rises nicely and for a while it looks as if a key character is dead. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody looking for something a little different.
When I picked this film on DVD I knew nothing about it; the blurb on the box made it look interesting and I didn't have any Icelandic films in my collection so I bought it I'm pleased that I did. The story is interesting with some fine action as well as a surprising amount of comedy. This comedy is unforced; based entirely on amusing incidents rather than silliness or comic dialogue. The cast do an impressive job; especially Baltasar Kormákur who gives a standout performance as Christopher; also notable are Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as Steingrímur and Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir as Iris. The action is good without being over the top; I particularly liked when the ship arrived in Rotterdam and it looked as if it wasn't going to stop in time and the art heist scene. As the film approaches its conclusion the tension rises nicely and for a while it looks as if a key character is dead. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody looking for something a little different.