I can see why this film won the directing award at the Sundance Film Festival. This film totally pulled you into the title character fairly quickly. Right from the start you could tell that Dennis (Kim Kold) was very socially inept and was so endearing that you almost felt sorry for him. Director and writer Mads Matthiesen framed this film very well and kept you rooting for Dennis , hoping that he would gain enough courage to stand up to his dependent (and possibly also socially inept) mother. By the way, I was recently educated on the name Mads and it is a very common name in Denmark (in case anyone was wondering). Dennis, who is a championship body-builder is a very dedicated son and has apparently been his mother's sole friend all of his life. Once he sees that his friend has gone overseas to Thailand and return with a wife, Dennis decides to do some wife hunting of his own. The fact that he has to lie to his mother about where he is going is a strong indication of how unhealthy their relationship really is. Once in Thailand, Dennis discovers that there are not a lot of "good" girls around until he stumbles upon a gym and meets the owner Toi (Lamaiporn Hougaard). The fact that Toi takes the time to show him around the city and introduces him to the local culture quickly brings her up to the level of "potential" wife. Once Dennis is back home in Denmark, the lies continue and mom is thrilled to have him back home under her control (or so she thinks). There are really no surprises in this film, but it was very entertaining to see it play out. I guess the film proves that although you may be able to lift small trucks over your head, you can still be very vulnerable and unsure of yourself. In the end, Dennis did turn out to be a big ole teddy bear; however I would have probably considered calling the film Mama's Boy (smile). I am not sure if this film will ever be released to the general public, but it is one of the better foreign films that I have seen. I do have to warn that there are some sub-titles in the film, however they are very few and not at all difficult to keep up with. I liked the film, but did not love it so I am giving it an amber light.
Review of Teddy Bear
