CheerupSilver Very Cool!!!

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Hayleigh Joseph This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

octopusluke Taking a break between poststructuralist slave drama Manderlay and the embittered, genitalia-snipping horror movie Antichrist, Danish provocateur Lars von Trier released this no-budget Danish movie The Boss of it All (Direktøren for det hele, på dansk). With a stripped down, quasi-Dogme aesthetic, and some of the best actors Denmark has on offer, this return to roots screwball sitcom instantly recalls the various incarnations of BBC's The Office. It's an intentionally lighthearted, but ultimately forgettable blip in this prodigious filmmaker's erratic career.Opening without a title sequence, we are greeted by the warm, nasally voice of Lars himself. Talking to the audience through speech, whilst we see his reflection in the window of the office building he is shooting, our humble narrator outlines that the following film will be "an unpretentious 'hygge' movie (the most untranslatable Danish word, roughly meaning cosy, fun and/or sexy)". In his typical, tongue-in-cheek manner, he continues to say that the film won't take up much of our brainpower, or require any afterthought. It's a bold, anti-artistic opening gambit, stolen first from Godard, and used previously in LvT's overlooked TV series Riget (The Kingdom, på engelsk). However, being the notoriously dubious filmmaker that he is, we're instantly questioning his intentions. There's no way LvT could make a flippant film about nothing, is there?Following the prologue, we meet out players. With his dwindling company on the verge of being sold, meek businessman Ravn (Peter Rantzler - Italian for Beginners, In China they Eat Dogs) hires the hapless method actor Kristoffer (played brilliantly by Jens Albinus - Dancer in the Dark, The Idiots) to pose as the previously unseen CEO, ready to sign the final payoff and break the news to the company's employees. It's a bonkers idea, played out in typical slapstick fashion, with Kristoffer trying to 'find' his character, with his reticent stares leading to bust-ups, marriage proposals, and 'over the ergonomic office table' bonks.Far from being a two horse race, Trier's script gives space for the ancillary characters to shine, but only insofar as Danish stereotypes will allow. There's the earthy Jutland farm boy Gorm (Casper Christensen), the red-blooded saleswoman Lise (Iben Hjele) and the hot- headed Finnish tycoon buying up the company (Friðrik þór Friðriksson). Also of note is the stunning Sofie Gråbøl as the contract attorney sealing the deal, and currently whipping Guardian readers into a frenzy as Sarah Lund in Danish crime series Forbrydelsen, aka The Killing.Whilst I wasn't thrilled by this one-dimensional farce, there is some depth behind all the levity and, 'how's your father' dalliance. With Kristoffer trying so desperately to flesh out the boss of it all character, mixed with Ravn's downplayed subservience, it's an allegory on the relationship between filmmaker and performer. Known for being such a difficult, resolute, and allegedly tear-inducing taskmaster, Lars von Trier's The Boss of it All is wryly telling everybody to lighten up. It's only a movie, after all.

anthonygreen93 Lars Von Trier's film, The Boss of It All (2006), is a successfully executed black comedy. The plot of the film revolves around an unemployed actor, Kristoffer, brilliantly played by Jens Albinus. The owner of an IT company, Ravn (Peter Gantzler), has told his employers of a fictitious character who is the 'boss of it all' in order to divert any unpopular decisions made by him. When a potential buyer of his company wants to meet the owner of the company in person, Ravn subsequently hires Kristoffer to act as the boss of Ravn's company. Kristoffer attempts to take on the 'boss of it all' persona in a serious manner, yet he is exposed to the audience as clueless and at times, idiotic. This provides much of the humour throughout the film where Kristoffer is so drawn in by the character, that he and 'the boss of it all' have become one and the same. As the story unfolds, the lies build and gather, one after the other, delving Kristoffer deeper and deeper into the continuous lies put forward by Ravn.Writer-director, Von Trier, makes use of terrific dialogue through his actors. The whole cast gel together well and the way Albinus seamlessly becomes more drawn in by the charade makes for great entertainment. This film demonstrates a great example of how black comedy should be produced. The Coen Brothers surely must have taken some inspiration from Von Trier for their black comedy, Burn After Reading. Both films illustrate how something so stupid and unnecessary, snowballing into something taken seriously, can create such great humour. The dull visuals and chopped up cutting, effectively enhanced the mood of the film, creating a greater sense of reality and allowing the film to not be taken so seriously. The Boss of It All is genuinely hilarious, efficiently shot and well put together black-comedic film.

ArthurKaletzky What a wonderful surprise this film was! I never expected a pretty straightforward satire from von Trier and Dogme, but I certainly got it. The plot sounds well-used and obvious but the way it was transferred to a Scandinavian IT culture, the distanced approach to character writing, improvisation, and superb acting and direction made it a great comedy. On reflection, what was really hilarious was the massively over-inflated self-importance of each and every character. Ali G. and Borat could learn a few things from these Danes (and one very irate Icelander).As the end credits voice-over said, "Apologies to those who expected more, and to those who expected less. The others got what they deserved". I was glad to be one of the others.

XeniaGuberman This movie is undoubtedly an ideological departure from the recent LVT endeavours. It has no tear-jerking aspirations, except as a matter of laughs. In a way, it is self-ridiculing, adding an extra layer of hilarious logical traps. It is a bit slow in the third quarter, but then picks up. Special noteworthy inventions: the Icelandic buyer (a riot!), his translator, mythical Gambini and the "Hanged Cat"! Acting, acting, acting is very witty and plastic. It makes the piece (with mostly indoors setting) less cinematic, more of a filmed play (which is undoubtedly the intention of the director). Good entertainment and fairly original.