Elling (2002)

"...a big-hearted audience pleaser.  Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
"Beautifully observed, miraculously unsentimental comedy drama.  Bill Gallo, New Times
"...a graceful, heartfelt treat.  Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
"Blessed with two fine, nuanced lead performances.  Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle
"Laugh-out-loud funny.  New York Daily News

Editor's Note Elling (Per Christian Ellefsen) is a neurotic middle-aged man who has led an extremely sheltered life and is institutionalized after his mother's death triggers a nervous breakdown. Upon being discharged, he is given a flat in Oslo to share with his friend and fellow patient Kjell Bjarne (Sven Nordin), a food-loving would-be womanizer whose loutish behavior occasionally proves taxing to the fastidious Elling. At first both men are paralyzed by separation anxiety and fear of the outside world, and simple tasks like grocery shopping or making a phone call present major challenges. Once Kjell Bjarne decides to venture beyond the confines of their home, however, his unlikely infatuation with a lonely pregnant woman (Marit Pia Jacobsen) causes a rift between the two friends, prompting Elling to start forging social contacts and seek a calling of his own. Without delving deeply into the clinical aspects of mental illness, this lighthearted comedy presents a convincing and utterly sympathetic portrait of socially challenged people coping with everyday situations. The movie was a huge box office hit in its native Norway and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film of 2001.

	Jorgen Langhelle
	Sven Nordin
	Marit Pia Jacobsen
	Per Christian Ellefsen
	Ingvar Ambjornsen - Based On Novel By
	Svein Krovel - Cinematographer
	Petter Naess - Director
	Inge-Lise Langfeldt - Editor
	Lars Lillo-Stenberg - Musical Score
	Dag Alveberg - Producer
	Axel Hellstenius - Screenplay

New York Times
"...Good-natured....Gentle....It offers flickering reminders of the ties that bind us..." 05/29/2002 p.E5

Los Angeles Times
"...Sentimental in the best sense, in that it celebrates life's possibilities with equal parts sweetness and humor....Witty and sophisticated..." 09/06/2002 p.C9

Sight and Sound
"...An eccentric buddy movie. The results are both charming and comic..." 03/01/2003 p.38-9

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
...It's the kind of story that in the wrong hands would be cloying and cornball, but director Petter Naess has the right hands. He gives the movie edge and darkness, is unsentimental about mental illness, makes his heroes into men instead of pets, and still manages to find a happy ending. - Roger Ebert