International title: All For Four — Directed by Rasmus Heide — Screenplay by Rasmus Heide and Mick Øgendahl.
In Denmark, comedies built around a group of relative stars or established comedians are extremely popular with audiences, and one of the recent successes of these has been the Alle For (meaning ‘All for’ with the first film being All For One, the second All For Two, and so on and so forth) film series. As these comedies are about small-time criminals and their attempts to make it big, there is an obvious comparison and that is Erik Balling’s Olsen Gang film series (original title: Olsen Banden), which is a beloved and iconic Danish crime comedy film series that spawned remakes in both Norway and Sweden, as well as several spin-offs. The Olsen Gang films are some of the most popular Danish films ever, and, even though the first film was released in the 1960s, most Danish millennials even know the franchise’s formula and their iconic lines by heart. The films are laugh-out-loud funny, well-made, and always supremely well-acted by the original cast. It is clear for all to see that the filmmakers behind the Alle For films desperately want them to be this generation’s Olsen Gang, but while the Alle For films are, admittedly, extremely popular with audiences, they are constantly negatively reviewed by critics, from film to film significant members of the original cast want less and less to do with it, and neither the comedy nor the heart ever comes close to touching what Erik Balling’s films were. Alle For Fire is the latest film in the series, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t come anywhere close to improving on what came before it in the series of films.
In Rasmus Heide’s Alle For Fire, criminals Ralf (still played by Mick Øgendahl) and Timo (now played by Anders W. Bertelsen) are butting heads about their next big plan. Timo constantly shoots down any idea that Ralf, who is living with Timo and his girlfriend Lonnie (played by Rikke Louise Andersson), comes up with. However, when Timo starts to suspect that Lonnie may be romantically interested in someone else, he thinks that to keep her in his life, he should give her everything she desires, which Ralf insists must be an expensive wedding. Now, all of a sudden, Timo is interested in what Ralf is suggesting. When their old partner-in-crime, Martin (played by Jon Lange), comes by and asks them to help him get his criminal record wiped clean, they agree to help him, if he helps them get the money that Timo needs to make Lonnie happy.
Although I, admittedly, enjoyed the first film a decent amount, everything in the Alle For film series since then has been increasingly unmemorable and less funny as it went along. Frankly, it’s all been downhill since the so-so-but-popular (at least for many Danes) original, which featured Rutger Hauer in a memorable role as the wealthy antagonist. The most interesting thing about this fourth film in the series is that they have opted to recast ‘Timo’ — Rasmus Bjerg’s role from the first three films — after Bjerg declined to take part in the fourth film. I don’t blame Rasmus Bjerg whatsoever, because I’m sure he has a good reason for doing that, but I do think they could have gone in a different direction than just recasting an integral role like they have done. I get that the filmmakers probably thought the ‘Ralf and Timo’ characters work well together (and that the films need that partnership), but, even though I like the new actor in the role of ‘Timo’ — Anders W. Berthelsen — in many other films, this doesn’t really feel like a perfect fit for Berthelsen, and the film would’ve been better served by just inventing a new character for him to play. His rapport with Mick Øgendahl, his grasp of the character’s behavior, and his comedic timing aren’t up there with Rasmus Bjerg, and the fact that the character has been recast is a constant distraction throughout the film. The one decent thing that Berthelsn does add to the film is that he probably sells the idea of his character’s legitimate and sincere romantic hopes and dreams a little bit better than Bjerg probably would’ve based on his version of the character from the previous films.
In Alle For Fire, the jokes rarely land with anything more than a thud or lead to anything more than a forced smile, and way too often the jokes are all about the central characters’ stupidity, which is getting old at this point, or stale gross-out humor. Mick Øgendahl, who I normally enjoy quite a bit as a comedian, really does try his hardest to get a laugh out of you, and, even though he doesn’t succeed more than maybe once or twice (admittedly, I liked the ‘salami/star’ joke, which probably doesn’t translate very well), he does deserve some credit for the physicality he puts into getting you to laugh. But the only standout in the film comes through the single-scene appearance from Ulf Pilgaard in the role of a dentist. Toward the end of the film, it focuses less on the comedy and more on the romantic desires of its central trio of characters, but I didn’t buy what was happening on screen. Frankly, none of it felt earned, and some of it didn’t even feel particularly believable. Heide’s film doesn’t do enough for the trio’s respective partners, whose actresses only rarely — if ever — get scenes to work with that consider them as complete characters. What I think — or any other critic thinks — about the problems that this film has won’t change the fact that all of these films get Dane flocking to the theater, which is, ultimately, a good thing. Let’s hope the downward trajectory doesn’t continue, if Heide and Øgendahl come up with a fifth film down the road.
3.5 out of 10
– Review Written by Jeffrey Rex Bertelsen.
I'm Jeffrey Rex 