One of the reasons I always enjoy Top Gear (well, until all the stuff with Clarkson happened) is the fantastic way in which the cars are shot. Just when you think you’ve seen everything the team behind the show thinks up a new innovative way to film. The program itself really isn’t about cars, but about entertainment. The same thing is true for the Norwegian comedy Børning.
The story is about Roy (Anders Baasmo Christiansen), who runs an auto shop and whose daughter (who he never sees) comes to him to stay with him. When he’s challenged to an illegal race through the length of Norway he accepts, but forgets he also needs to take care of his daughter.
You could complain about many aspects of the movie. The story is almost non-existent and as this is a movie about a race going through the whole of Norway there isn’t much actual racing shown. It feels more like a normal road trip movie. The sense that those racing are being chased by the police never is really present. Besides that the tense relationship between the father and daughter never convinces. This is partly because Roy comes across as uninterested when it concerns his daughter. He sees her as a burden and wants to prove himself, but because there is no subtlety you don’t care for him as a viewer.
Despite this criticism Børning does contain a lot of funny jokes, beautiful shots of cars driving through Norway and performing some spectacular stunts (often supported by CGI). Seeing a car drifting past cliffs at high-speed does get the adrenaline pumping. Despite the presence of various fast cars this movie never enters the Fast & Furious terrain, but still is an enjoyable (although forgettable) film.
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Oh, this looks interesting. Though bit disappointing that the story’s not as strong as the look and feel of the film.
And another “oh” – new look here, Nostra – liking it!
Thanks Jaina, it was time to update it so it would also look nice on the mobile platform and have been using this theme a while on my Dutch site…so the move was easy (plus allowed me to finally add infinite scrolling again and the previous theme didn’t support that). A like this look…nice and clean and easily readible.