Fantasia Festival Report: Sharks (AKA Inkasso)

Here's Michael Lasry's take on Inkasso, the latest from Lasse Spang Olsen of In China They Eat Dogs fame. Olsen is a stunt man turned director and it shows through a little bit ... from what I've seen of his work (including this one) I'd say that his films are slighter than typical Danish fare but they tend to be a good bit of fun.

“Sharks" won't leave you as emotionally stirred as “Leaving Las Vegas"; it isn't as cool and jazzy as “The Cooler" and “Snatch" is a much more energetic and comical film than this one but it'll leave you with a temporary smirk of satisfaction.

Why compare these three films to “Sharks"? Well, many elements seem to have been lifted from these films by “Sharks". Laura (Iben Hjejle who played another Laura in “High Fidelity") is a gambling addict who lies to herself and her close ones about her problems and keeps betting her life away. On one oh-so-fateful day, one where collection goon comes to her house to get his boss' dues, her fate meets with fallen boxer Claus ‘Hurricane' Larsen (Kim Bodnia) who dreams of opening his own boxing club and is himself a recovering alcoholic. He tries to threaten her for her payback but she's tough and isn't easily pushed around. A relationship develops and before they know it - but we knew all along - they're having a good time! Soon, there are problems with petty crime lord Helger, Claus' boss, because of Claus' friendship with Laura who still hasn't paid her debts. Together, Claus and Laura will try to break the losing streak their lives have been.

The movie is close to “Leaving Las Vegas" because it tries to give an uncompromising portrayal of an addict with Laura's vicious gambling problem. It also throws in a person who believes in the possibility that Laura can be saved, but also hands her that key element for recovery: trust. When Laura calls her parents to say she's stopping by for tea, they quickly hide all of their belongings before her arrival. Claus however, leaves thousands of dollars lying around and never really pushes Laura to change. Similarly to Sera (Elizabeth Shue in “Leaving Las Vegas"), Claus takes Laura as she is just like Sera took Nicholas Cage's Ben. Claus himself is not perfect. If Elizabeth Shue played a hooker, he's a loan shark and a recovering alcoholic.

Similarities to “The Cooler"? You got it. Odd couple meets and, all of a sudden, their luck changes. Together, they get out of their losing streak and start winning. Everything climaxes into one suspenseful scene where everything is put on the line and the characters feel that Dame Fortune lies on their side.

As for Snatch, all the over-the-top comedic elements are there: the violence, the atypical crowd of characters and the cruel crime lord. Incidentally, this crime lord called Helger looks exactly like Snatch's Bricktop; interestingly, they're both interested in boxing and both ask the main character to get one of their fighter's to take a dive. It's just that this guy is less menacing and doesn't feed his victims to pigs.

It does appear at first that “Sharks" will innovate. It's interesting to witness Laura's downfall and rehabilitation through Claus. Yet, the film doesn't go all the way and one can't help but remember superior portrayals of addicts (“LLV"). For a moment, one might think that there is some novelty for Laura's character to actually be a gambling addict and a woman but it's nothing special. In the end, it's the pretext to a love story between two unusual characters. Because of the commonality of the film, despite a solid premise, “Sharks" falters and fades into the shadows of better films.

It isn't unjustified to compare Lasse Spang Olsen's “Sharks" to three widely known films with hefty budgets which came out of Hollywood. If you want to watch something memorable (“LLV" or “The Cooler") or fun (“Snatch"), you can do so quite easily. If you'd rather watch something quite ordinary, well hunt this film down in your area and good luck. This is telling. Fantasia and other film festivals are opportunities to discover and encourage world cinema but it just so happens that what's dangled continuously in our faces by Hollywood's marketing geniuses happens to be better at times, especially when this Danish film is similar in too many ways to the three films mentioned. Well, now that I think about it, “LLV" is daring and true; “The Cooler" is poetic; “Snatch" is over-the-top. All three are not big budget pictures and all three deserve more encouragement than “Sharks" because they're not mainstream films. Somehow, it seems that this review isn't about “Sharks" anymore but it is. It's about where “Sharks" went wrong and where previous films succeeded. It's a shame because there are good things about this film. It's comical, but not that much. It's dramatic but never goes all the way. Moving? At times…. The leads are antinomies of each other or so it seems and the relationship between the big lug (Claus) and the gambling addict (Laura) is often sweet. Yet, the sweet scenes are tarnished by aggravating pop/soul songs. Incessantly, ‘moments', and I mean incessantly, are interrupted by what sounds like a Finnish Joss Stone. The music fades in and out as if there was a kid at the controls playing with the volume knob. It's quite unnecessary. Of course, the lyrics are in Finnish and I don't know what they were saying. Still, I doubt I would've appreciated them if they were translated.

We're introduced to secondary characters that are most peculiar but turn out being plot puppets. We see a relationship at first between Claus and his wannabe boxer friend Igor, yet his fate is treated in a cold, confused and muddled manner. At the beginning, when it looks like Claus and Igor's relationship will endear us, Claus replies to Igor's poor boxing technique “It's no use to fly like a butterfly if you can't sting like a bee". Well, the same goes for “Sharks". It floats around but just never goes for the spot, unlike those three films I mentioned. That last remark might seem under the belt but it's justified.

Review by Michael Lasry.