I Travel Alone

The second film about Jarle Klepp (The first being "Mannen som elsket Yngve") is a charming story, well acted, actually superbly acted. But the story lacks some of the fun and music score from the first film.

Jeg reiser alene is about Jarle getting to know that a one-night stand he had as a 17 year old rooster has resulted in a now 7 year old daughter. This comes as a chock, but not more than it should. What happens when this daughter is sent on holiday to her newly discovered father?

This film is a character driven story. Well acted (little Lotte is fabulous) and there's good music here too, from back in 1994. The music is what made the first film so great. The time frame was perfect. Here there's too much muzak in between. Of course there's some great music from Pulp (Common people) and several from Bob Hund, but where's the kick we should have gotten from the rest? Well, simply not here.

This film balances between a 6 and a 7. I give it a 7 because of the acting. The story is maybe a bit too thin, and obviously better in a book where you can imagine the things happening, and less successful as a film. A small minus also for some dialects not being easy to understand for everyone. The sound just isn't good enough. Subtitles would have helped. But all in all it was a nice time at the cinemas.

I live in the town this movie was recorded ( Bergen ) But that's not enough to save it for me. I'm a huge fan of the first movie even tho I never read the novels, but this one did not do me any favors. The characters felt a little too forced and unrealistic at times and the little girl in the lead was painful to watch. One-dimensional and stereotypical character and the actor who portrayed her did not impress me for a second. There are decent child actors out there for sure and she is not one of them. This movie had an interesting premise but the execution was nothing worth bragging about.

I'm giving it 6/10 and that may be a little more generous than it deserves.