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Ghost Canyon

'Men & Chicken' [Blu-ray+DVD+Digital]
(Mads Mikkelsen, David Dencik, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Søren Malling, Nicolas Bro, et al / Blu-ray+DVD+Digital / NR / (2015) 2016 / MVD Visual)

Overview: Two outcast brothers, through getting to know their unknown family, discover a horrible truth about themselves and their relatives.

Blu-ray Verdict: Written by Anders Thomas Jensen, who brought us the highly-underrated ‘Green Butchers’, 'Men & Chicken' (an apt title once you delve into the psyche of this movie) is one of those films that you will either tell all your friends is a "must see", or you will steer them clear of it! It's a fine line of enjoyment here, for as the film progresses, the dark, oh so dark humor can either take you down with it; or lift you up, kicking and screaming through sheer enjoyment!

The premise of this Danish film is an easy one to lock and load. Gabriel and Elias are brothers, but they look nothing like each other save for a hair lip. Gabriel is a down at heart professor and Elias is a man who has a way with the ladies. Well, the wrong ones, it has to be said. Due to his constant need for a lot of "tension relief", those dark humor moments come (sorry, I just had to!) thick and fast, for 'Men & Chicken' is a rather odd duck, to say the very least! Anyway, their father passes on and leaves the guys a VHS tape message, they soon discover that [SPOILER ALERT!] he is not their biological father and that their real father lives on some remote island. A scientist or some such, the boys decide to trace their real family, to discover if there are other hidden elements to their loves thus far.

Now, two things you need to know about this film are, and aside from the dark humor that resides within it (have I mentioned that before?!), are a) the Danish-speaking film has the actors running their lines at 500mph sometimes (so keep up with the subtitles as they disappear just as soon as they have arrived on screen, trust me!), and b) Mads Mikkelsen ('Hannibal') has the unleashed, unhinged time of his life here!

That said, so does, for the most part, everyone else too which goes to show that, behind the scenes, it must have been a lot of fun to make. Inclusive of a fair amount of slapstick too, not least the verbal kind within some of Mikkelsen's speeches - like the one he makes to his wheelchair bound female dinner date, where he talks (at 500mph), she asks if he will be talking about himself all night, and he responds with "Do people in wheelchairs always interrupt?" - there is also a great story with lots of fun, truisms and heart within.

As dual-lead, David Dencik ('The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo') is both loathsome and pathetically lovable as Gabriel. The scenes where he is driven "mad" withing the Sanatorium are priceless. His expressions when his "brothers" inform him that certain depraved acts are the norm around there are priceless. Nicolas Bro is a delight as always as the loquacious over-sharing Joseph, as is an almost unrecognizable Søren Malling as Franz. However, and without a shadow of a doubt, 'Men & Chicken' (aka 'Mænd & Høns') is definitely the chameleon Mads Mikkelsen's movie.

Made almost twelve years after Anders Thomas Jensen's last film, 'Adam's Apples' (2005), if you don't take this movie in one night, welcome it into your Blu-ray player, hit play and sit back and cozy yourself in for the night with it, you are as mad as the "family" that awaits both Gabriel and Elias! This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Bonus Features of:

24-Page Booklet Featuring A Stunning Look Behind The Scenes
Trailers
Digital Download

www.MVDvisual.com

Official 'Men & Chicken' Trailer





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