The Boss of it all

Wonderfully judged dry-as-a-bone comedy from Lars Von Trier, a likeably eccentric bunch of desk jockeys are led by an excellent central performance from Jens Albinus (Dancer in the Dark, The Idiots), with strong support from Peter Gantzler (Smilla’s Feeling For Snow); Iben Hjejle (High Fidelity) and Sofie Gråbøl (The Killing). The story is nicely complex and suitably farcical, and there are touches of simple genius throughout, from nicely timed chapter headings in the form of Von Trier’s periodic narration, to the ‘careless’ editing that keeps the film grounded in ‘reality’. Albinus has a lovely comic touch, but Von Trier is the star, more comedy please, Herr Von Trier!

This was my first Von Trier film - an odd place to start, possibly, but it was not without its rewards.

Jens Albinus is fantastic as The Boss of It All, subtly painting his personality into the film's landscape. Peter Gantzler's Ravn forms a brilliant counterpoint, and arguably he is the star of the film.

The supporting cast are also full of character, though it was disappointing, perhaps, not to see more of them as a lot of the comedy comes is generated through their performances.

If anything, it was a tad too short and I would have liked to see the story dragged out a little more, remaining painful and cringeworthy. But this was, all in all, an excellent watch.

Von trier is a wildly erratic director and is capable of making great films along with utter rubblish . Sadly this is in the latter bracket .

A smug,pretentious,bone dry ,self congratulatory 'comedy' about workplace dynamics and responsibilities that never endears or amuses .

Its one of the most boring films you will ever see.

It's a deadpan comedy, with plenty of awkward silences and people dealing with things in incompetent, embarrassing ways. If you like this type of humour - The Office, Gavin & Stacey, The Trip - you'll probably enjoy this film.

I don't like that sort of comedy and tend to spend much of it cringing and frustrated, but this film seems like a pretty good example of its type.

People who know about drama theory and about the protagonist's hero, Gambini, will probably also find quite a bit to laugh at here.

My favourite scenes were those involving the walrus-moustached, ranting Icelander who wants to take over the company. He manages to bring into business talks ancient grudges about former Danish occupation of his home country and quotes from the sagas.

The actor's appeals to meet the company owner on neutral ground lead to some enjoyably amusing settings, including a garden centre and a funfair.

Apparently there is a US remake in the pipeline, headed by the maker of Arrested Development. Could be interesting.

Unlike von Trier's other films, The Boss of It All doesn't use handheld cameras, so if, like me, you're unfortunate enough get motion sickness from jerky Dogme-style camera work, this film is totally watchable. The film nonetheless appears home-made by using a computerized focusing technique, Automavision; it makes it look as if the pictures haven't been edited to the exact right second.

I found it a bit slow going, but very funny - It has a few good twists.

You need to stick it out and watch the whole thing, but it is well worth it.

That's all I can say without putting the spoiler thing on it...