Empty Barrels (2010)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Fresh and Exciting

A Major Disappointment

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Tomme Tønner is a classic crazy action comedy, similar to productions like Guy Ritchie's "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels", Lasse Spang Olsens two films about Harald the Danish loose cannon, and Tarantino's legendary "Pulp Fiction".The film is set in Oslo, Norway, where we follow the hapless small-time gangster Ali and his two moronic friends Nico and Bobby. Just out of the can, Ali wants a chance to land a big job with the crime lord of the city, an unstable Balkan-Danish sociopath portrayed brilliantly by the Danish maestro Kim Bodnia. The clumsy trio of course manages to mess up the job, and from there everything goes pear-shaped.The strength of the film is in no way its originality, most scenes are recognizable from other films of the genre. However, the cast, consisting of both quality veteran actors like the before-mentioned Bodnia, the ever-neurotic Kristoffer Joner as a heroin-addicted ex-attorney, Bjørn Sundquist as a moonshine-selling hick from the outskirts of Northern Norway and Vegard Hoel as his manic right hand,and fresh new faces like Leon Bashir as the ambitious Ali, Farrakh Abbas as the imbecile wannabe-gangster Bobby, and Anders Danielsen Lie as the Nico manages to turn the semi-hilarious script into a genuinely funny experience.Don't expect an epic comedy, but take this film for what it is, an unpretentious silly-willy with no other ambition than making you laugh at the impossibly stupid and pathetic characters, the unlikely crazy situations they find themselves in, and the links to real life, where a lot of poser wannabe-gangsters actually share the dreams of the tragicomic trio at the centre of Tomme Tønner. Entertainment well worth your money.

Tomme tønner starts with our hero Ali (Bashir) coming out of a jail in Oslo, where his two friends are waiting, and he declares he have have a plan, in Egon Olsen style. The gang of three are likable people who screws things up all the time.Tomme tønner is well made, but it's both too short and too long. The movie is funny at times, especially the scenes with the three main characters. Also Bjørn Sundquist and the pair Kim Bodnia/Slavko Labovic are very good.Bodnia and Sundquist have a Hopper-Walken meeting (as seen in True Romance) that should've lasted much longer. The Dane acts like Tony Soprano - calm at times, mad at times - best shown in his meeting with the transport manager (Børresen) at a finer restaurant.The romance story between Ali and Yasmin (Skavlan) was boring and out of place. Also the constant reminder of what've happened earlier in the movie was extremely annoying. It's not like it's a four hour movie - it's 83 minutes! The part where Fido (Hellum) was stopped by the police woman (Lene Alexandra Øien) was also meaningless, and I can only think of one reason why Skavlan and Øien are in this movie: Eye-candy.