Varg Veum – Tornerose (2008)

Preceded by: Varg Veum – Bitre Blomster (2007)
Succeeded by: Varg Veum – Din til døden (2008)

	Directed by: Erik Richter Strand	COUNTRY Norway/Denmark GENRE Crime/Thriller INTERNATIONAL TITLE Varg Veum – Sleeping Beauty RUNNING TIME 90 minutes
	Produced by: Jonas Allen Peter Bose
	Written by (from the book by Gunnar Staalesen): Lars Skorpen

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Varg Veum	Trond Espen Seim	½
Anna Skjelstad	Katherine Fagerland	½
Hamre	Bjørn Floberg
Isachsen	Endre Hellestveit
Lisa	Julie Rusti
Vigdis Halle	Marianne Nielsen
Niels Halle	Bjørn Willberg Andersen	½
Vera Werner	Ågot Sendstad

Review

The second entry in the Varg Veum series finds the highly talented Erik Richter Strand (Sønner) in the director's chair. This is no time for directorial capers, however, because stylistically and formally Tornerose picks up where Bitre Blomster left off, probably controlled by producers Jonas Allen and Peter Bose. The two films have many of the same strengths, the most prominent being the delightful rivalry between Varg Veum (Trond Espen Seim) and Hamre (Bjørn Floberg), which offers a welcome portion of clever masculinity. All the scenes with these two players are of fine thespian class. The unfolding of the crime premise is well done too – until it all becomes a tad too far-fetched and the performers (notably Marianne Nielsen and Ågot Sendstad) are placed in situations to which they cannot seem to relate. Ultimately, Richter Strand isn't able (or allowed) to bring the depth necessary to justify the audacious final part of the story. Seim and Floberg, on the other hand, have all they need to yank each other around the set for many more films to come.