Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The story is somehow good and humanitarian and all that, but the plot and dialogue are very motionless, boring, dull and superficial.

Jacob Pederson (Mads Mikkelsen) does charity work in a Bombay orphanage. They receive an offer for funding from rich Jörgen Lennart Hansson but he requests to meet Jacob. Jacob reluctantly returns to Denmark. Jörgen's daughter Anna is getting married. He is shocked to see Jörgen's wife Helene who happens to be his love some twenty years ago. Is Anna Jacob's daughter? He was a drunk and cheated on Helene back in the day.The look is naturalistic and the acting is rich. Mads is in top form. The premise sets up for a whirlwind of melodrama. Instead, it's a bit more sensitive. I actually could do with a tighter, faster, and wilder melodrama but this will work too. The acting is superb all around. The twists are great.

VERY disappointing after all the great reviews.The story is maudlin, predictable, and completely unbelievable; and it takes itself so seriously that it practically begs to be laughed at. The direction is sloppy and plodding, leaving out what matters and leaving in what doesn't. The cinematographer used a hand-held camera for tight closeups far too often, for no reason, so that often the screen is filled with one huge head (sometimes one huge eye) bobbling around.All the actors are mediocre at best; none of the relationships are believable; and all the characters were either so badly written or so badly acted that I never believed or cared about any of them - except the tough, smart, adorable little boy in India, who was on screen for no more than ten minutes.I don't understand why Mads Mikkelsen is so popular; he acts and looks like an unwrapped Egyptian mummy. David Dencik, another Scandinavian actor, is infinitely more interesting and attractive; unfortunately he's not on hand to save this leaden turkey. This was my first and (I hope) my last Susanne Bier movie.

I may be getting too sentimental in my old age but this film was so touching that I actually cried through quite a bit of it. What I found so touching was how essentially good almost all the characters were.The central character Jacob Pederson (Mads Mikkelsen) despite a nearly constant scowl on his face or a look of deep concern and perhaps worry is a man who really cares about right and wrong and other people. This is a sharp change from his misspent youth when all he cared about were...well what many of us cared about, having a good time. Now he runs an orphanage in Mumbai.While Jacob is the central character the most interesting character and the one with the biggest heart is the very rich Jorgen Lennart Hannson (Rolf Lassgard). Jacob has gone to Denmark to convince Jorgen to support his orphanage. It isn't clear that Jorgen will do so. He has choices for charity. But when Jorgen invites Jacob to his daughter's elaborate wedding, things change.I won't say any more about the plot since it is such an interesting and surprising plot. What I will say is that when Jorgen learns who Jacob really is in relationship to his family (and vice-versa!) he does something so caring, so surprising and so correct and so magnanimous that it will warm the cockles of the coldest heart and bring to tears the most cynical of viewers.And then we are back to Jacob and how he deals with what Jorgen has concocted. And he too does the right thing even though it completely changes his life and costs him something dear to his heart..I wish I could be more concrete. But see the film and I think you'll agree that this is the kind of movie that will make you feel good about people. It's a shame that it's rated "R." Perhaps if you have a tweener or even a bright 10-year-old you can watch it together. And you can talk about it. It is a great relationship film, and a great film for teaching young people about the real choices in life that can come up The acting was excellent. Mikkelsen brought the strength of character and a justified pride to the role of Jacob while Lassgard was warm and real and smart as Jorgen. Both Sidse Babett Knudsen, who played Jorgen's wife, and Stine Fischer Christensen, who played the bride, were intense and so vivid I felt I could touch them. (The intense close-ups on the eyes and faces—and I mean intense—made the actors almost leap off the screen.) But most of my praise must go to Susanne Bier who wrote the story and directed and to Anders Thomas Jensen who wrote the screenplay. The story and the movie are simply brilliant.—Dennis Littrell, author of the movie review collection, "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!"