In Denmark, a Group of Teachers Drinks for Academic Purposes

From left: Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe, 
Mads Mikkelsen, and Magnus Millang in 
"Another Round" 
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Over the decades, many mainstream comedies have enjoyed placing their characters in situations where they drink excessively and find themselves in unpredictable and, to them, unmemorable shenanigans. They have fun and regrets in equal measure, leaving you to revel in the antics that unfold as these characters have some of the best times of their lives.

This type of story takes an intriguing turn in director Thomas Vinterberg’s comedy-drama, “Another Round.”  Here, we see the characters’ alcoholic adventures as something that’s much more than about them drinking.  It’s instead a story that explores the characters through a humorous and emotional lens.

In Copenhagen, Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larson), Peter (Lars Ranthe), and Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) are teachers who feel as though they’re not motivating their students as much as they can.  To fix this, they decide to test psychiatrist Finn Skårderud’s study that discusses how maintaining a BAC of .05% makes you more productive and creative.  As the four friends begin to conduct this experiment, they will see both the positive and negative impacts of their research.

Mikkelsen, who stared in Vinterberg’s 2012 film “The Hunt,” delivers a performance that’s both fun and dramatic.  He excels in bringing to realization an everyday character going through some personal issues, showing the boredom and uncertainty of being in a rut.  However, in the scenes where he begins the experiment and becomes more confident in front of his students, Mikkelsen sweeps you up in this new nature of his character.  He then makes a heartrending transition into someone whose life begins to fall apart when the experiment seems to go too far.  This is a human story that’s helped made possible by a very human performance, resulting in another piece of work that further proves Mikkelsen’s reputation for being a distinguished actor in global cinema.

The bond between the four main characters is what makes this film feel as fresh as it does.  Whether it’s them enjoying drunken nights or sticking together through hardships, the actors portraying these characters bring a superb amount of strength to their on-screen chemistry.  As we watch Mikkelsen, Larson, Ranthe, and Millang portray the ups and downs of this point in their characters’ lives, this quartet of actors imbue it all with an emotional depth and abundance of energy that makes them a compelling team to watch.  

The screenplay by Vinterberg and Tobias Lindholm, both of whom have co-written several other screenplays, may seem like something we’ve seen before in terms of adult characters trying to bring more fun into their lives, but the narrative does well in providing us with witty and poignant interactions between the characters, grounding the movie in an authenticity where this story could have fallen into a trivial night-of-binge-drinking sort of narrative.  It’s not until we arrive to around the half-hour mark where they begin the experiment, so before then, we’re given plenty of time to become familiar with these characters, particularly in a 10-minute scene at a birthday dinner where you’re given an idea of the chemistry that will be the foundation of the movie.

Vinterberg and Lindholm also manage to have their screenplay create a balance in the amount scenes that each character is provided.  Throughout the movie, the screenwriting duo not only creates sequences that focus on the these characters spending time together, but also showing them in their individual environments, be it when they’re each instructing a class or interacting with their families.  So, despite Martin being the main character, the screenwriters also give us detailed views of who his three best friends are, an aspect that adds more depth to the story.

The cinematography from Sturla Brandth Grøvlen utilizes a lot of handheld camera movements, having the viewing experience the characters’ drunkenness with the swaying of the camera during their inebriation.  Whether it be in a bar or running down the street while intoxicated, you’re in that state of mind as Martin and his friends increase their BACs.  While this camerawork is used to fine effect in the humorous scenes, it’s greatest impact comes in the dramatic scenes as the friends’ drunkenness increases and their lives begin to spin out of control.

As a director, Vinterberg accomplishes the changes in tonal shifts when the lives of the characters become more complicated as their experiment goes on.  These skillful transitions punctuate the growing troubles that the characters experience, slowly leading us from merriment to hard-hitting emotions as Martin and friends go through a set of events that make you feel as though you’re watching actual people traverse through both the good times and the bad.

Vinterberg has made a movie where there’s much believability in the lives that he’s depicting, and by the time you’ve finished going on this journey, you might wish to go for another round.

Grade: A-