Customer Reviews

Shake It All About

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

RUN, DO NOT WALK TO BUY/RENT THIS FANTASTICALLY WONDERFUL! DREAMILY ROMANTIC movie. it is a PERFECT "date movie" for gay AND straight couples! It's Danish and SUPERB in EVERY WAY...the script is "smart", the characters are ALL excellent, attractive, and believable. There's nary a lick of nudity or hot, steamy sex, yet the underlying passion of the lovers comes across loud & clear.
The amazing (for US audiences, anyway) is that it treats gay love and marriage as 100% "normal" and "valid". Coming out of Denmark, where I believe gay marriage has been legal for some time, the story line follows the EXACT same "formula" as any hetero love story that Hollywood might produce--including the "Hollywood ending."
"Shake It" is a romantic comedy, but the film delves deep into the gay AND straight characters' struggles and heartbreak...the soundtrack is excellent, as well, AND NO one is "sick" and/or dying of AIDS.
Be prepared to laugh, cry, and fall in love with these characters and this film!

SHAKE IT ALL ABOUT is a fine little movie from Denmark that slices right into the middle of a cross section of life and examines marriage, infidelity, the peaks and troughs of love, and the power of relationships - all in the refreshingly total spectrum of straight and gay life. Two men have been living together for a significant period of time. One finally asks the other to marry and then proceeds to 'cheat' on his lover by having an affair with his lover's sister-in-law! The couple's gay friends side with the jilted man: the wandering architect's friends and his parents encourage the change. When the new couple becomes pregnant, and the jilted lover is injured in an automobile accident (losing an eye, etc), the situation becomes acute and the manner in which the original male pair copes is the bulk of the film. The acting is excellent, the pacing is fast, the humor and tragedy are well balanced, and if the ending is a bit Hollywoodized, it works just fine. A definite step in the right direction for gender bending films and a very fine one at that.

While visiting Sweden & Denmark, I bought a heap of Scandanavian movies, "Shake it All About" being one of them. I had no idea what this movie was about, (as it was titled "En kort en lang" on the cover)
but from the moment I started watching I found it utterly charming and very funny, with some unexpected twists in the plot. I would categorize it as a gay comedy soap. The acting is great and the characters were all believable. My only gripe would be with a few bad make-up decisions, especially a less convincing moustache on a supporting character and an amateurishly assembled beard on another. But these are minor problems and did not spoil the movie for me. There are also some inside Danish showbiz jokes which "outsiders" would not understand. But a real fun movie with the kind of wonderful ending you'd expect from a romantic comedy! A movie you can watch more than once.

I think I would rent a movie of Mads Mikkelsen reading a phone book. He's that good. However, this story - while it had a very good beginnning - is terrible. The premise is that Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen), a gay man in a committed gay relationship, becomes attracted to his sister-in-law (Caroline) at a party wherein he has just proposed to Jorgen (his lover). He kisses her, and from then on he can't stop thinking about her, can't stop calling her or making love to her. Jacob lies to Jorgen repeatedly, going back on his word to break off the affair and never to see her again, until she finally becomes pregnant and Jacob asks her to marry him. He moves out of the apartment he shares with Jorgen, Caroline leaves her husband, and they move into his parent's house and prepare for a wedding.

Despite conflicting peer pressure from just about everyone, straight and gay alike, Jacob and Caroline seem to truly be in love, right up until the moment of the wedding, where Jacob suddenly realizes he's really in love with Jorgen and leaves Caroline at the altar, with her full blessing. And then... pigs flew over treetops. No, really, it's THAT unbelievable. The tripe about this film being a "straight romance formula" with a few gay couples inserted is ridiculous, because Jacob's character was despicable. He lied to Jorgen, he cheated on him while they were engaged, he promised never to see Caroline again and quickly broke that promise, and he even brought Caroline to their apartment and had sex with her when Jorgen was recovering in the hospital from an accident. In a romantic storyline, the *only* way Jacob could be forgiven for these acts is if he was sincerely following his heart to be with his true love, no matter how many problems stood in his way. But even that wasn't the case, since he has a fit of fickleness at the altar and decides he's not in love with Caroline at all, but Jorgen! And really, Caroline stepping blithely, smilingly, aside in her wedding dress? Tossing Jacob her bouquet? On what planet would this have occurred? It's not the planet of Thinking Women, I'll tell you that. This movie insults just about everyone with its snide shadings of misogyny, its sticky Hollywood ending (complete with horses) and its gross oversimplification of the mechanics of psychological and sexual attraction.

Watch it for Mads, but only if you can shut off your brain during the ending.

Pretty good Danish comedy/drama about Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) a gay man who proposes to his long-time boyfriend Jorgen (Troels Lyby) and on the same night finds himself falling for Jorgen's sister-in-law, Caroline (Charlotte Munck).

The film never quite decides whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama, and hence never really succeeds at either. There are some very funny moments, the best of which is a scene with a therapist trying to help the men save their relationship. But there are moments of supposed pathos which are not terribly effective.

Mikkelsen is very sweet as the befuddled Jacob, as is Munck as the equally confused Caroline. But it is difficult to generate much enthusiasm for Jorgen, whether because of the character or Lyby's performance. The rest of the friends and relatives, straight and gay, are just plain annoying.

The conclusion is utterly absurd, unbelievable even for a romantic comedy. True love may conquer all, but it can't make airplanes turn back in mid-flight.

I love the actor Mads Mikkelsen. He does a great job in this movie, not to be a gay man. I highly recommend this movie!! It keeps you guessing on how it will end.
Take my advise, buy this video.

"Shake It All About" (orginally titled "en kort en lang" in Danish) is a romantic comedy reflecting the blending of the lines between straight and gay today. When Jacob proposes marriage to his boyfriend of many years, Jørgen, he truly does want to marry him. However, things get complicated when Jacob falls in love with Caroline, who is married to Jørgen's brother. To make things even more complicated, Caroline becomes pregnant with Jacob's child.

Jacob still loves Jøgren and he loves Caroline - who will he choose. Who does Jacob want? And if it's Jørgen, will Jørgen take him back?

Well worth buying. You'll love it for the story, you'll also love it for the soundtrack.