Rent A Second Chance (2014)
3.4 of 5 from 83 ratings
1h 38min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Detective Andreas' (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) perfect life is thrown into chaos when he is called out to a domestic dispute between a junkie couple only to find their infant son neglected and crying in a closet. With red tape stopping him from intervening, Andreas is shaken to the core and finds himself powerless in protecting the child from his violent father. Slowly losing his grip on right and wrong he decides to take justice into his own hands with devastating consequences.
- Actors:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ulrich Thomsen, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Maria Bonnevie, Thomas Bo Larsen, Peter Haber, May Andersen, Ole Dupont, Molly Blixt Egelind, Bodil Jørgensen, Ewa Fröling, Charlotte Fich, Roland Møller, Mille Lehfeldt, Sarah Juel Werner, Søs Egelind, Kirsten Lehfeldt, Claus Riis Østergaard, Frederik Meldal Norgaard, Christian Grønvall
- Directors:
- Susanne Bier
- Producers:
- Sisse Graum Jørgensen
- Voiced By:
- Mal Nielsen
- Writers:
- Anders Thomas Jensen
- Aka:
- En Chance Til
- Studio:
- Vertigo
- Genres:
- Drama
- Countries:
- Denmark
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Reviews (2) of A Second Chance
EN CHANCE TIL - Bleak but gripping - A Second Chance review by AW
2014. The question is: "How far would you go?"
Gritty, dark, and moving drama. The two top Danish Nicholajs (Coster-Waldau as the cop and Lie-Kaas as the wonderfully repellent tattooed, violent, druggie Tristan) are both great. May Andersen as the drug-addled partner was entirely convincing but I had a problem believing cop Andreas's beautiful wife Maria Bonnevie's descent into what was probably severe PostNatal Depression, since there was very little obvious visual story lead up to it until her abuse of their baby is shown in Andreas' assumption flashbacks.
***POSSIBLE SPOILER*** What really irked me was once the deceased infant was found it was xrayed but clearly not DNA tested which I would have thought would have been normal, thus proving it wasn't the child of the detective. The assumption that all baby boys look the same is stretching it a bit. No body marks, moles, hair or eye colour differences of any kind? Pull the other one.
Also, as in so many foreign films with subtitles, especially Scandinavian ones, the spoken languages are sometimes different but you're never given a sense of it. At least it's not "speaks in a foreign language" as so many lazy film subtitles do.
After a wife's death the parents arrive and are clearly Swedish and speaking Swedish (even I recognised that from knowledge of the language plus from Swede Peter Haber as the Dad - he played Sjowall & Wahloo's eponymous Martin Beck for years from the late 90s) but you're not given that relevant info. I think some actors and characters can manage to switch to speaking/comprehending a 2nd or 3rd language but the languages are only semi-similar; my Swedish friend says she can never make out Danish and always needs the subtitles! Ouch.
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Well worth a watch - A Second Chance review by BE
Another unusual storyline directed by the magnificent Susanna Bier. A traumatic scenario around the repercussions of infant death, thoughtfully acted out by an excellent cast. Camera work is excellent too. Not an uplifting movie but thoroughly recommended.
0 out of 1 members found this review helpful.