Just Another Love Story (Rhoades)

“Just Another Love Story” Plays Mix-’Em and Match-’Em

Reviewed by Shirrel Rhoades

There was a recent news report about a young woman who was in a coma following a van crash that killed her four friends. Parents were told that their daughter survived, while others received word that their children were dead.

However, there was a mix-up of identities between one of the victims and the girl in the coma.
You can imagine the confusion when she woke up.

There’s a new Danish film at the Tropic Cinema that tells a similar tale – but with a twist of its own. “Just Another Love Story” (“Kærlighed på film”) is anything but.

Jonas (Anders W. Berthelsen) lives a mundane existence as a family man saddled with a wife and two kids. But his life takes an intriguing turn when he’s inadvertently involved in a car accident with a woman named Julia (Rebecka Hemse). Feeling guilty that she suffered head injuries, he goes to visit her in the hospital – with bizarre consequence. Suffering a memory loss, she mistakes Jonas for Sebastian (Nikolaj Lie Kaas), her cool new boyfriend who was supposed to be flying in from abroad to visit her.

What would you do if your life was a drag?

Well, our guy Jonas decides to go along with the mistaken identity and pass himself off as her boyfriend. After all, that’s the crux of this mix-’em and match-’em movie plot.
This film has overtones of the Sandra Bullock romantic comedy “While You Were Sleeping.”

However, this is more of a thriller than a comedy.

Described as “Hitchcock meets Bergman,” the film takes on a sinister tone when the real Sebastian shows up.

Writer and director Ole Bornedal milks it for all it’s worth, this tale of a man assuming a brand new identity by posing as an amnesiac’s boyfriend. Yet, reality must eventually intrude and as Bornedal puts it, “One day the truth comes knocking at the door.”

My wife is particularly fond of movies where someone assumes an all-new identity. “American Success Company,” “American Dreamer,” “Desperately Seeking Susan,” and “Don’t Tell Her It’s Me” are among her favorites.

Sometimes I wonder who she is.

srhoades@aol.com
[from Solares Hill]