This movies starts out as an interesting social satire that tries to explore the stereotypes Finns have of Sweden, and vice versa. However, after the first act it becomes more like a typical romantic comedy, mixed with some comedy of errors. Sadly, this means that the plot beats become easy to guess, and the freshness of original satirical approach is kind of lost.
I guess Hallonbåtsflyktingen could still be a interesting romantic comedy, but the chemistry between Mikko, the protagonist, and the other characters simply doesn't work. Mikko is a Finnish man trying to pretend to be a Swedish man, and the way this is played out makes him look like he is, frankly put, a developmentally challenged man-child. It is hard to understand why any woman would fall or him. The movie tries to sell its romantic plot by making Mikko's chief romantic rival even a bigger buffoon than he is, so that we would understand why someone would choose Mikko over this other guy. But this just makes the whole thing feel forced, because we're expected to believe that the female protagonist, a self-assured and attractive woman, has no other romantic options in her life than an egotist jerk and a naive idiot.
I wish the movie-makers would've figured out what exactly they're attempting to do: a satire on national stereotypes, or a romantic comedy with eccentric characters. As it is, Hallonbåtsflyktingen feels like a half-baked compromise, where neither of these aspects fully works.
I guess Hallonbåtsflyktingen could still be a interesting romantic comedy, but the chemistry between Mikko, the protagonist, and the other characters simply doesn't work. Mikko is a Finnish man trying to pretend to be a Swedish man, and the way this is played out makes him look like he is, frankly put, a developmentally challenged man-child. It is hard to understand why any woman would fall or him. The movie tries to sell its romantic plot by making Mikko's chief romantic rival even a bigger buffoon than he is, so that we would understand why someone would choose Mikko over this other guy. But this just makes the whole thing feel forced, because we're expected to believe that the female protagonist, a self-assured and attractive woman, has no other romantic options in her life than an egotist jerk and a naive idiot.
I wish the movie-makers would've figured out what exactly they're attempting to do: a satire on national stereotypes, or a romantic comedy with eccentric characters. As it is, Hallonbåtsflyktingen feels like a half-baked compromise, where neither of these aspects fully works.