Lasse Spang Olsen will likely never be considered one of Denmark’s A-list directors but he is certainly unique amongst his peers. In a country known for producing serious art film Olsen got his start as a stunt man. While Von Trier makes it clear that this is the country that birthed existentialism Olsen simply likes to blow stuff up. Olsen aims purely to entertain and, like all entertainers, when he finds something that works he sticks with it. Thus when he found major success with In China They Eat Dogs – a black action comedy written by Oscar winner Anders Thomas Jensen – it was a given that he’d want to return to the well somewhere down the line. One problem. In China ends with a massive gunfight that kills off absolutely every one of the film’s principal characters. Thus Olsen and Jensen’s second go ‘round comes in the form of a prequel, Old Men In New Cars.
Violently psychotic criminal restauranteur Harald – played by Olsen regular Kim Bodnia – played a secondary role in In China but here he gets top billing. Fresh off a lengthy stint in jail Harald returns to his restaurant on his release but all is not to his liking. Waiting for him are a gang of Serb thugs who he owes a great deal of money – Pusher fans will be happy to see a familiar face here – and he has only a week to pay up. One of the goon’s cousins has been given a job in the restaurant to the openly racist Harald’s great displeasure, and his two cooks have reorganized things while he’s been gone. While bullying his underlings into changing things back the way he likes Harald learns that his surrogate father is in hospital, horribly ill and soon to die of liver failure. The old man’s dying wish is to meet his natural son for the first time. Only problem is that he’s in jail. In Sweden. For serial murder. No matter, off go Harald and his underlings to spring the boy out for a family reunion. And so begins a string of killings, botched bank jobs, high octane car chases and rampant political incorrectness.
Old Men In New Cars makes no attempt to bring anything new to the successful formula behind In China They Eat Dogs, if anything they’ve actually simplified things a little. What it does do is up the ante in terms of scale and ridiculousness of the stunts. From the bungee-enabled jail break, to the vehicular carnage, to the final plane hijack everything here is bigger and louder than in the original film, the higher budget that came with the sequel obviously all being spent on improved stunt work. With serial killing Ludvig – not even remotely reformed, incidentally – Olsen and Jensen have created a character even more extreme than the bullying Harald. They even throw in a suicidal Iben Hjelje for good measure.
TLA’s DVD release is minimal on the extras – just some trailers and stills – but gets it right where it counts. The transfer is anamorphic and very clean, sound offered in Danish 2.0 or 5.1 with good quality English subtitles.
Old Men In New Cars knows exactly what kind of movie it wants to be and it delivers in spades with a steady stream of dark humor and energetic action sequences. The entire cast is loaded with A-listers – Bodnia (Pusher), Hjejle (Mifune, High Fidelity), Nicholaj Lie Kaas (Reconstruction, The Idiots), Tomas Villum Jensen (himself a respected director) – clearly having a blast ditching their normal serious fare for a piece of froth and the energy rubs off. High art? Not at all, but it’s great fun.