One-Liners: Fiction

A HIJACKING (B+) - I can only imagine how Paul Greengrass ran Tom Hanks through the wringer in "Captain Phillips," one of the small hits of autumn. I'd be surprised, though, if he told a story as visceral and believable as "A Hijacking," another take (this one Danish) on northern Africa pirates seizing a cargo ship and holding the crew hostage.

Writer/director Tobias Lindholm here stages a master class in character acting, and I don't mean that in the showy sense at all; it's all about nuanced characters. The film opens with high-powered executive Peter Ludvigsen (an intense, intuitive Soren Malling) driving a hard deal with Japanese businessmen; before you know it, those flashy negotiating skills are no longer about yen but about the lives of his employees aboard the ship. Meantime, the ship's cook, Mikkel (a sad-faced Pilou Asbaek), who earlier was established as a loving father and husband (his cherished wedding ring serves as Chekhov's gun here), becomes the pirates' pal as the man who makes the meals.

The men on the ship become the pawns in a drawn-out chess match. Peter is now paired against the English-speaking Omar, who repeatedly insists he's not a pirate, not "one of them," but merely a facilitator. Days turn into weeks, and the parties are millions of dollars apart, and neither side is budging much.

Malling is a thrill to watch as a pampered businessman who suddenly realizes that his workers are human and that the decisions he makes in his plush office have direct consequences for them. To reveal more would be a disservice. This gripping tale deserves to be savored fresh. 

SIGHTSEERS (B) - A quirky, confounding yet satisfying black comedy about a British couple who embark on a road holiday to the countryside, only to be beset by a disturbing piling up of dead bodies along the way. This one also would be poorly served by too much plot exegesis.

We know from the start that Tina and Chris, who haven't been dating long, are not quite right, either of them. Tina is at cross-swords with her mum (they live together), who insists that poor Tina is cursed for an accident that killed their dog, dear beloved Poppy. And the couple is not long on the road in Chris' caravan before his dark instincts start to surface. Their series of interactions with a cast of characters plays like a cross between "Lost in America" and "Blue Velvet."

Alice Lowe and Steve Oram both wrote the screenplay and take on the starring roles. They bring a classic improv vibe to their dry-as-toast performances.  The proceedings are bookended by versions of "Tainted Love" -- the Soft Cell hit over the opening credits, and Gloria Jones' original over the end credits. In between, Lowe and Oram spin a sordid, bizarre story that sticks with you long after the perfect, distorted punch line that ends their wretched relationship.


ONE-LINER

Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com despised the recent release "The Counselor," and he sums it up colorfully in this line: "It’s like a mumblecore movie about a bunch of Sarah Lawrence philosophy majors, made by coked-up rich people for 100 bajillion dollars."