MOVIE MARRIAGE


After the Wedding

Defining the qualities that make actors into talented artists requires a clear understanding of the elements that create their range. Sean Connery, for example, will always play James Bond, which either helps or hurts his later work. Samuel L. Jackson has devolved into cartoon riffs on his earlier performances. Neither man demonstrates a lack of ability—but the specific limitations of their careers are predicated on the roles that appear to most appropriately suit their abilities. Danish actor Mads Mikkelson is a different story altogether. In the last few years, Mikkelson has played a dangerous Bond foil in Casino Royale, a thug seeking redemption in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher II and now portrays the soulful manager of an orphanage in Susanne Bier’s After the Wedding. That sort of chameleon versatility doesn’t come along very often.

Read the rest of the review in the New York Press...