'O'Horten' review

Slow, yes, but still worth watching

By Matt Pais

Posted May 21, 2009

Metromix

Odd Horten (Bard Owe, winning) retires after working 40 years as a train engineer. This leaves him with time to ponder basic questions like what to do with his day, whether he'll finally sell his beloved boat and if he'll at long last travel on an airplane.

The buzz: This obviously isn't a movie meant to make your pulse race. (Unless you cannot wait to see if he's going to sell his boat!) Writer-director Bent Hamer captured the poetry in an aimless, unexciting life in 2005's Bukowski adaptation "Factotum," so hopefully this Norwegian tale packs the same understated punch.

The verdict: Take a deep breath and enjoy. The patient, quietly dignified "O'Horten" features a handful of delightfully absurd little moments—like a man in a suit literally sliding down the street after freezing rain makes the surface slick—that contribute to a tone that's off-center without becoming whimsical. The movie putters around a bit without doing much, and sometimes deals more in hints than revelations. Still, Horten is a simple, inquisitive man, and through this likable scamp "O'Horten" demonstrates the nobility in both precision and curiosity.

Did you know? Horten meets a man who invented a sewing machine for use on people. Clearly a much more reliable problem solver than so-called "doctors" or "surgery."