Adam’s Apples

Adam’s Apples, the latest effort from prolific Danish filmmaker Anders Thomas Jensen, is – expectedly – an odd, blacker-than-black comedy that’s almost impossible to describe. The story revolves around Adam (Ulrich Thomsen), a Neo-Nazi thug who is – as dictated by his parole – forced to live and work at a remote Church alongside a priest named Ivan (Mads Mikkelsen) and several other former inmates. Storywise, that’s about it; Jensen, who also wrote the screenplay, places the emphasis on the exceedingly quirky characters and expects their antics to propel the film forward. As a result, the film takes an awfully long time to get going – although there’s no denying that the superb performances by Thomsen and Mikkelsen keep things interesting throughout. It also doesn’t hurt that Jensen’s peppered the film with some genuinely funny moments, the majority of which are destined to offend certain viewers (particularly the unfortunate fate of one character’s pet cat). But despite its various positive attributes, Adam’s Apples never quite becomes as engaging as one might expect – thanks primarily to the film’s decidedly uneven sense of pacing.

**1/2 out of ****