Saint Bernard Syndicate Movie Review
Played July 26th – Directed by Mads Brugger, Denmark
An odd-couple comedy about the pitfalls of striking out into the economic frontier; it charts two hapless Danes’ scheme to sell Saint Bernards to China’s middle class.
This is not a “laugh out loud” odd couple movie, but more subtle in how it turns on the idea of a man tricking his old schoolmate into investing, and quickly learning (to his dismay) that the schoolmate is a better salesman. The situations are uncomfortable and awkward, which makes a certain kind of humor… but to call it a comedy is almost going too far.
What jumped out was the unfortunate timing on a Stephen Hawking joke. Though, for those who like inappropriate jokes, this might actually play really well. And in a few years will no longer be noteworthy at all, unfortunately.
Will this end up being the sort of film that gains a following, like other quirky comedies? Perhaps. But it seems to be one that will be enjoyed once and slowly forgotten, unfortunately.