See You in Valhalla

source: See You in Valhalla

Every movie always wants to portray typical clichéd sibling relationships. Right from the beginning Pete never came across as Johana's boyfriend and from then on it was difficult to understand their relationship even though Pete made it obvious he wasn't Johana's boyfriend and Johana pointed it out too. Though Pete seems to behave like boyfriend. This character seems to only exist to pair Johana as every other character has a partner. Considering their brother has died and in weird circumstances, there doesn't appear to be any feeling of loss or mourning at their sudden news. Then there's the hippy spiritual nurse looking after the father, constantly annoying, full of stupid quips. Movie about self centered grief as opposed to family grief at the loss of their brother and a son. Give it your time, you may get something from this movie.

This movie is a remake of Rocket Gibraltar. Not a literal, scene by scene remake, but a remake nonetheless. The central concept of both movies is the Viking funeral. In this movie we have the mystic Hawaiian. In Rocket Gibraltar there are the children. In this movie there is alienation from the father, though for reasons that are really unclear. I mean really, in the explanatory speech of Don, the father did not go to see his son play baseball? In Rocket Gibraltar it is the natural distance that grows between parents and children, who grow up to be parents themselves and have to live lives of their own. This is not a bad movie. Rocket Gibraltar is better.

a good film, very well depicting the family dynamics, when things suddenly aren't as simple as you thought any more, and you can't tamp it all down using the rules of courtesy. I liked the viking reference, as I also, like a previous reviewer, have Scandinavian roots. I believe that was done well. I found it frustrating, though, to try afterwards to find the book which we were shown repeatedly, 'remember the viking', supposedly by an author named Stevenson Abernathy, and not be able to find such a thing. If the book is fictitious, I would say that is very poor, since there are countless good reference books the movie creator could have chosen to place there. I believe a very difficult role to 'get right' was that of the nurse/life coach for Daddy. It would have been easy to fall into a trap of coming across as either a bit of a bimbo or a too-serious zealot, but the actress avoided both of those pitfalls and came across as a woman who has seen hard times, but preserved an inherent sense of dignity

eccentric could be the first word about this film. but it is not more eccentric than life. because this is its purpose - to examine a dysfunctional family and the way to build again the links between its members. and the work is far to have a disappointed result. but a special form of seduction, interesting characters, poetic end, realistic fights , inspired definitions of success and love and solitude, many challenges and the flavor of indie film who remains, in strange manner, comfortable refuge. short, portrait of a family. and a touching end.

OK, so i'm not a movie reviewer, but someone's gotta set the record straight here. This is a solid movie, bordering on very good. I watched two times and enjoyed it both times. A lot of reviewers and raters apparently came in with a very narrow, shallow and pre- conditioned view of what this movie is supposed to be. No. Valhalla doesn't fit easily into any particular genre bucket. It's not a pure comedy, it's not "Darker Modern Family", it's not drama, etc. It is, however, a great piece of writing with fantastic, tight, highly committed crew of actors. And that's, what i think, makes this such a pleasurable experience. It is pure joy to watch every single actor here. There is tremendous depth and substance to every character. They play sincerely, with no holding back or emotional hedging. They embrace the characters and the story and go all out. I know I said earlier that it wasn't comedy, but I did find it absolutely hilarious at times. Sometimes it was funny but the kind of funny when everything is so wrong that any additional wrong just becomes funny because of being so comedically and narratively predictable. Here is my advice, let go of any preconceived notions of story and especially actors and just enjoy it. This movie is a labour of love with a lot of effort put in by everyone - give it a chance.

** disclaimer, the plot of the movie explained. It is a good movie. Very simple, not complex. Which is what makes it a good movie. Basic Family strife, with a generalized American family dynamic. Simple resolve. It shows how silly arguments can destroy families and how easy it is to let it all go, With the help of outsiders looking in. As some other reviewers complained about the lack complex characters or further explanations, I don't feel they were necessary in this movie. Enough information was given for you to follow the what the movie is about. A broken family that is being healed. Simple.

See You In Valhalla is an odd little indie film, and its eccentricity makes it a perfectly enjoyable watch for indie lovers. Indie darlings tends to be rife with quirky characters and a bizarre-o enough story. While See You In Valhalla is missing the spark to make it a true darling, it is a nice little accomplishment for Brent and Jarret Tarnol. Johana Burwood, played by Sarah Hyland (a producer of the film), must return home after not seeing her estranged family for four years when her brother dies in a crazy and strange manner. When home, she confronts her past and siblings and work past the discomfort to finally come to terms with what she left behind. See You in Valhalla sounds cliché and contrived, but it is in the details of the characters that it reveals itself as quite original. The plot follows a typical arch in development but the plot moments that progress it are unique. See You in Valhalla is a performance driven film, and the actors are the shining points. Steve Howey, maybe I'm just a sucker for the television show Shameless, but Howey's role as the gay hippie lover Makewi is my favorite. See You in Valhalla is probably not a film for everyone as the combative dysfunction of the family will be potentially off-putting for some more conservative viewers. As far as indie comedies go, though it may be imperfect, you can do far worse. Please check out our website for full reviews of all the recent releases.

As soon as I finished the movie, I went in here to see what people was saying about it. The reason for this, was that I really liked this movie and I don't know why. As I read on metacritic, I would agree it has all been seen and done before, but for some reason, this just felt right and believable. Especially one scene which seems to re-live childhood brotherly shenanigans (totally saw my brother and me back then - and some time we still do it ;) ) The viking angle was something I found enjoyable, perhaps because I'm a dane - I don't know. But what he said, could have been said by friend of mine who practice Asa-faith (The believe of the vikings). To sum it up; Good movie. Been done before but somehow, this one is different.

I was quite looking forward to this movie when i saw who the main actor was but in all seriousness WTF was this? It felt like there wasn't even a plot, it was filled with undeveloped characters that made you neither hate nor love them just to bore you to death with pointless conversations and sorry excuses for acting. The movie is suppose to start with the bizarre death of her brother but it really just starts with him mumbling about some sort of viking thing and then ultimately committing suicide i found it neither 'Bizarre' nor entertaining. My favorite character was Makewi(Steve Howey) he is the gay boyfriend of Johanna's brother , his portrayal of character was both comedic and believable which as far as I'm concerned is a stark contrast from the rest of the cast. My favorite quote of his being "I'll bend you over and show you how I lost my Virginity" I wouldn't recommend this movie for anyone to watch, it's misguided and underwhelming. You're welcome to watch it but don't blame me if you're not in to it.