Dark Horse

Daniel (Cedergren) is a sometime graffiti artist who tootles around Copenhagen in a midget Fiat 500 manfully avoiding the slightest responsibility.

He's aided and abetted by his chubby chum "Grandpa" (Bro) a sleep research facility worker who harbours aspirations to become a football referee.

Daniel's days of slackerdom come to an end when he meets bakery assistent Franc (Pedersen) whom he carries home after she freaks out on magic mushrooms.

A love affair develops...but with it comes duty to someone other than himself and Daniel - tempted by the free-thinking Grandpa - finds it hard going.

When Franc discovers she is pregnant - "I can't be a father of anything. I don't even read the newspapers" - Daniel panics and heads off to Spain.

Daniel, Grandpa and Franc are so determinedly alternative you either revel in their imperviousness to convention or find their counter-cultural twitting about a big bore.

What Icelandic director Dagur Kari's slight yarn does throw up, however, is moments of inspired comedy, particularly Grandpa's pompously draconian refereeing of a ladies' match for his certificate.

On the down side, the story is inexplicably divided into a chapters while a sub-plot involving a magistrate who goes AWOL while en route to Brussels will infuriate as much as it intrigues.

Kari's earlier whimsical masterpiece Noi Albino shrewdly judged the balance between wry and plain annoying but this just tips it over.

Still, if you're feeling in a frivolous mood, Dark Horse is worth an each-way.

Tim Evans