Terkel in Trouble

DIR: Stephan Fjeldmark et al. | Denmark | 2004 | 78min
In Danish with English swearing and subtitles.

SHOWTIMES:
Sat. Oct. 2 | 1:00pm | Ridge
Mon. Oct. 4 | 9:30pm | Vogue

South Park, it ain't, but it's also definitely not for the Jimmy Neutron set either. This foul-mouthed, refreshingly nasty computer-animated feature from Denmark aims for its country's weakest spots and hits more often than it misses. Terkel is an average 12-year-old boy trying to navigate through life with its mentally-absent parents, bullies, drunken uncles and accident-prone little sisters. One day, after a series of misadventures, Terkel starts receiving anonymous death threats - as if he didn't have enough to worry about already. To top things off, he and his best friend Jason (who's from the suburbs and therefore knows to carry an iron rod in his back pocket at all times) have been drifting apart. You know how rough that can make things when someone's trying to kill you.

This is the first feature-length animated film from Denmark and the animation is fairly well done, though its cartoon-y style would have lent itself perfectly to classical 2-dimensional animation as well. At times, it reminded me of an Aardmann (Wallace and Grommit) model-based animation, but minus that studio's sense of pacing and unique attention to witty detail. Overall, Terkel in Trouble is an entertaining piece that offers a few fun surprises, especially if for those of you who have been watching less adult-oriented cartoons and wishing those cute little furry or scaley creatures would curse more.