Mielensäpahoittaja (2014)

	Also Known As: Kaffee mit Milch und Stress
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Dome Karukoski
	Actors: Antti Litja, Mari Perankoski, Iikka Forss
	Country: FIN, ISL
	Genre: Black Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 18.12.2017, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, Finnish with German subtitle
Synopsis: Mielensäpahoittaja (Litja) knows that everything used to be so much better in the old days. As the old grumpy has to spend a weekend in Helsinki to attend physiotherapy. Grumpy doesn't like this for four reasons: 1) He has to take a taxi. 2) He can't take daily care of his wife, an Alzheimer's patient. 3) He can't drive, which means he might have to sit in a car with a female driver. 4) He has to spend time with his family. The daughter-in-law Liisa (Perankoski) is a career woman, not keen to spend time with Grumpy when he comes to the city. Her boss has given her the task to look after Russian businessmen supposed to close a major deal over the weekend. It doesn't make her any happier when Grumpy decides to help with the deal. Then Grumpy has to face his useless son Poika (Forss) to become the father he never was, teaching.
Review: The movie has a plot similar to Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. It is enriched in dialogues and situations that are really funny. Funny due to the contrast of Grumpy with his son Poika unable to confront his father and avoiding all type of conflict, the contrast of Grumpy with Poika's wife Liisa always looking for optimising time and the contrast of Poika, weak and often daydreaming, with his wife Liisa, strong and efficient. Many dialogues and situations sound familiar to me and maybe therefore so funny. I may know many people a bit grumpy, who avoid conflict, who think a lot about being efficient.  The acting of the three main actors fits to the very defined characters without exaggeration. The Russian customers of Liisa are behaving very strangely and they are acted similarly in a very slapstick style. The use of different type of humour is rare and makes the movie also interesting and comparable to theater plays by Molière.
Rating: 7 /10