Videomannen

Courtesy of a recent blu-ray release from ETR Media, I was able to learn of and check out this little lovely from Sweden, known in English as Videoman, or Video Man (take yer pick). Perhaps not a good sign that I've had the tab open on its IMDB page for about a month, but it's simply that I can't think of all that much I really feel the need to say about it.

I would just recommend to give it a shot. Its nothing bad, its nothing great. It's a fun, but sleepy little comfort film that celebrates an era (1980s), through a good (and true!) story instead of mimicking it. Nothing is overdone, yet it doesn't reach the heights it had potential for. It is a drama but is not dramatic. It fills a needed gap, but doesn't go overboard or past its expiration date. The performances are good, the relationship is sweet and honest, but the writing could use a little help. Its aims and its imperfect results work off each other nicely, intertwined from the first frame, but still something is missing. Maybe that's the point.

The story is somewhat sad in some ways, but connecting the celebration of an era with a pillar from the decade that defines the time period - video rental stores - directly as a contributor to the subject's deeper sadness, it emphasizes how important it is for people to be as present in the present as they can, while looking back to the past as a source with fondness for what the future has the potential to hold.

It's not one of those films that stays with you in the hours or days after, but it hits all the right spots for neither a strong or weak recommendation.