Mongoland (2001)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Pia	Pia Tjelta	½
Kristoffer	Kristoffer Joner	½
Vegar	Vegar Hoel
Wayne	Reidar Ewing	½
Gaute	Gaute Garlid
Stian	Stian Kristiansen	½
Taxisjåfør	Terje Torkildsen	½

Review

Semi-idealistic low-key comedy with an all too familiar ambition of being different and clever (for lack of ability to excel in the technical areas). In the end, Mongoland isn't that different or clever, but what it does have is a clumsy, inexperienced charm and a handful of quite funny scenes (including a segment involving a few cold beers and a hollow baseball bat). Kristoffer Joner and Pia Tjelta are the unremarkable 20-something couple whose personal identity struggles have separated them for the last half a year. They are the film's strongest card (largely helped by Joner's brilliant Christopher Walken impersonation), even if the script ultimately has little to say about them. First-time director Arild Østin Ommundsen shoots deliberately grainy images on an obviously small budget, something which gives Mongoland an immediate feel in a few of the crisper written scenes. As a whole, however, the narrative feels staged and stilted with unimpressive sub-plots such as the annoying Wayne/Ford Mustang story or the over-emphasized sexless relationship between Vegar and Silje; the lack of debth shines through a bit too apparently.