O'Horten

Name: O'Horten
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: May 22, 2009
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 78
Cast: Baard Owe, Espen Skjønberg, Ghita Nørby

2009

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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7.2

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7.2	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 14 Ratings

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O'Horten (US)

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: May 22, 2009 | PG-13

Starring: Baard Owe, Espen Skjønberg, Ghita Nørby

Summary: The moment the train leaves the station without engineer Odd Horten aboard, he realizes that the path ahead is a journey without printed timetables and well-known stations. Horten has been forced to retire after 40 years of traveling a very stable rail, and the platform does not feel like a safe place anymore. His orderly, solitaryThe moment the train leaves the station without engineer Odd Horten aboard, he realizes that the path ahead is a journey without printed timetables and well-known stations. Horten has been forced to retire after 40 years of traveling a very stable rail, and the platform does not feel like a safe place anymore. His orderly, solitary existence is about to give way to a future of unlikely adventures and puzzling dilemmas: will Horten ever travel by plane? Will he finally sell his prized boat? How does Horten end up in a pair of women's red high-heeled shoes? Will he survive a nighttime drive with a blindfolded man at the wheel? Proof positive that there is humor to be found in aging, and we don't have to be elderly Norwegians to identify, laugh and embrace life in all its idiosyncratic splendor. O’Horten is Bent Hamer's wonderfully skewed view of the human condition and gives us that somewhat absurdist vision with great warmth, a little melancholy and universal appeal. (Sony Pictures Classics)… Expand

Director: Bent Hamer

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

Duane Byrge

Enlivened with droll wit and framed with robust sensitivity, O'Horten is an amusing and entrancing personal portrait. Succinct in its visualizations and crisp in its pacing, its deferential storytelling is in sync with its Odd subject. Read full review

Roger Ebert

Odd is played by Baard Owe, a trim, fit man with a neat mustache, who may cause you to think a little of James Stewart, Jacques Tati or Jean Rochefort. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Jack Nicholson's dyspeptic retiree in "About Schmidt" would no doubt identify with O'Horten's entertaining pain. Read full review

Joe Morgenstern

In a literal sense this delightful film, in Norwegian with English subtitles, is about retirement and the prospect of loss. But Mr. Hamer, a poet of the droll and askew, sends the aptly named Odd--it's also a common Norwegian name--on a cockeyed journey from regret through comic confusion to a lovely eagerness for new adventures. Read full review

Marc Savlov

A spare and perfectly droll kinda-sorta comedy from Norwegian director Hamer. Read full review

Walter Addiego

The strangeness, humor and melancholy of aging are deftly explored in this film. Read full review

Joe Neumaier

A quiet, oddly serene movie with a curious soul. Read full review

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User Reviews

slim

Jul 31, 2009

A touching movie. But not for people who have been ruined by Hollywood gloss, clearly.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Dave

Jun 25, 2009

Very entertaining film. Since I"ve seen Kitchen Stories, I knew what to expect and I was not disappointed. May be a bit slow paced for some, but I thought it was a very interesting character study.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Cat

May 27, 2009

Are these reviewers high? This movie was like watching ice melt. It tried to be quirky and offbeat and only succeeded in putting us to sleep. Every frame was dark, it was perpetual night even when it was day, (welcome to Norway) and the story never got underway. What were they piping into Are these reviewers high? This movie was like watching ice melt. It tried to be quirky and offbeat and only succeeded in putting us to sleep. Every frame was dark, it was perpetual night even when it was day, (welcome to Norway) and the story never got underway. What were they piping into the screening the reviewers saw? Either they were stoned, part of a mass delusion, or money has changed hands.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful

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