The plot for Thomas Vinterberg’s latest film, “Another Round,” which was part of the Official Selection of this year’s canceled Cannes Film Festival, has a group of friends deciding to hold an experiment to see if maintaining a certain level of alcohol intoxication can benefit their daily lives. Just one look at the recently released trailer shows that what starts off as a successful venture, both professionally and personally for these scruples of liquid poison, turns into total chaos and dependence on the substance.
Mads Mikkelsen stars in the film, alongside Thomas Bo Larsen, Lars Ranthe, and Magnus Millang. “Another Round” is directed by Vinterberg, based on a script he co-wrote with fellow director Tobias Lindholm. Vinterberg is known for two films which went on to garner critical-acclaim (“The Celebration,” “The Hunt”), but, when taking a peek at his filmography, it’s quite surprising to see that the Danish director has actually helmed 9 movies so far in his career, many of which did not break out commercially and were, in fact, critically panned by critics.
I was somewhat disappointed by “Another Round” when I saw it at this past September’s Toronto International Film Festival. Here’s a section of my thoughts:
“And yet, my main gripe with the film isn’t necessarily its predictable nature, but more about how the whole thing is constructed, its grooveless nature. With such a fascinating concept in your hands, you’d expect Vinterberg to produce more hijinks from our crew, more revelry in the unadorned pleasures of drinking. But he quickly ditches the golden opportunities and instead decides to focus his attention on conventional wisdoms: marital gripes quickly seep into the drama, jobs start being in danger, and the overall carelessness of their behavior turns the film into a cautionary tale about living in the moment. I could have used more scenes of these four men being inebriated and conducting their science experiment of debauchery. Instead, we get Vinterbeg’s half-baked message.”
“Another Round” arrives in theaters on December 4 and on VOD on December 18.