Minor Mishaps

Featuring the most compellingly dysfuctional Danes this side of Festen, Minor Mishaps finds an unlikely source of comedy in a family coming to terms with the death of their beloved matriarch.

Compulsive prankster and ofttimes embarrassing dad John (Kiil) hides the seriousness of his heart condition from the rest of his clan, including his wife of 46 years, Ulla. When she is killed in a traffic accident, John is forced to become the familial focal point. His transition to widowhood is made more tolerable by his youngest daughter who still lives next door, and is blessed with the same cherished culinary skills that recommended her mother to everyone, especially Tom.

Soon though, his relationship with Marianne provokes furious envy from the dreadful elder daughter, who becomes increasingly convinced of incestuous possibilities between her sister and father, and bizarrely percieves the situation as a personal sexual snub.

If it sounds like potentially heavy and melodramatic material, it never becomes excessively soap-operatic thanks to assured direction from first-time helmer Olesen, and the use of the improvisational techniques pioneered by Mike Leigh (Secrets And Lies, Naked). The result is an engaging, entertaining Oedipal comic drama, with a light touch that is most un-Danish.