MY JEALOUS BARBER
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): **
Eighty hours and forty-five minutes -- that's how long they've been together, Frank (Bjørn Sundquist), a beefy old guy who looks like ex-boxer, tells Bent (Gard B. Eidsvold), an orderly at the local morgue. They have shared all of those hours over the past many years because Frank is Bent's barber. Frank, a firm believer in the importance of loyalty, cut Bent's father's hair as well before he died. Frank's sparse calendar is a testament to his almost total lack of customers. And, given Bent's awful, straight-as-a-board haircut, it's no surprise that Frank isn't attracting any new business.
MY JEALOUS BARBER (MIN MISUNNELIGE FRISOR) is one of the films that left me struggling for the right things to say about it. Certainly not a bad movie, it's well acted and sometimes a little sweet, but it is a comedy which never made me laugh. I didn't smile much either. Still, comedy is personal, and I'm here to testify that many in my packed audience liked it.
Easily, my favorite part was the "big game" ending, when Frank goes off to try to prove that he is the equal of the local young whippersnapper who has twice won the Norwegian national championships. With a very reluctant Bent as his guinea pig, Frank tries to keep his hands from shaking as he watches the twenty minute timer countdown to the time when all scissors must stop cutting. I do remember smiling during the conclusion to this competition.
MY JEALOUS BARBER runs 1:26. The film is in Norwegian with English subtitles.
The film is being shown as part of San Jose's Cinequest Film Festival (www.Cinequest.org), which runs March 2-13, 2005.
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