See You In Valhalla (2015)

OK, so i'm not a movie reviewer, but someone's gotta set the record straight here. This is a solid movie, bordering on very good.I watched two times and enjoyed it both times. A lot of reviewers and raters apparently came in with a very narrow, shallow and pre- conditioned view of what this movie is supposed to be. No. Valhalla doesn't fit easily into any particular genre bucket. It's not a pure comedy, it's not "Darker Modern Family", it's not drama, etc. It is, however, a great piece of writing with fantastic, tight, highly committed crew of actors. And that's, what i think, makes this such a pleasurable experience. It is pure joy to watch every single actor here. There is tremendous depth and substance to every character. They play sincerely, with no holding back or emotional hedging. They embrace the characters and the story and go all out. I know I said earlier that it wasn't comedy, but I did find it absolutely hilarious at times. Sometimes it was funny but the kind of funny when everything is so wrong that any additional wrong just becomes funny because of being so comedically and narratively predictable.Here is my advice, let go of any preconceived notions of story and especially actors and just enjoy it. This movie is a labour of love with a lot of effort put in by everyone - give it a chance.

I was prepared in the first 15 minutes to just find the Wikipedia page read all the spoilers and just get done with the whole experience. So I am going to help all those who come after me who want the same. The movie felt like a bunch of forced chemistry and honestly awkward arguments that hardly mean anything.Spoilers-----------------------------------> OK so, Max (aka Magnus) died high on meth attacking his meth dealer after his girlfriend overdosed and died, this was not the first time both people had substance issues. Max and his girlfriend tried a NeoViking colony and got clean prior to the movie. The father also had substance issues throughout his children's childhood and fell completely off the wagon when his wife died before his eldest son finished high school and was basically an absentee parent to all four of his children. Johana the main character was not very liked for most of the movie. Her issues stem from her high school romance, she got pregnant at 16 and then after they agreed to have the baby he cheated on her with a friend. She skipped town had the baby and gave it up for adoption. She came back to town for her brothers funeral and found out her friend tori had given birth to Johnny(the ex-)s baby as well. Johnny as well as everyone else believes Jo left to have an abortion, this comes out when the guy she was vaguely seeing attempts to comfort her about the meet up with her ex. The eldest brother Don was the big man on campus until he got his high school girlfriend pregnant and abandoned all his dreams to do right by her. He has issues with being super conservative and raising his teen daughter the same way to be different from his childhood with an addict of a father. He takes his right wing sensibilities too far in a very liberal home. It turns out that he and his wife are getting a divorce because she has been cheating on him for the majority of their marriage and he only stayed for his overachiever daughter who will do anything to make him proud. He is torn between treating his daughter like his little girl and treating her like an adult which most of them do because she acts very driven and mature. Barry is the person most disparaged in the movie. He is a gay psychologist who got his doctorate but also has issues. He is dating mikiwei who has substance abuse problems and might have been his first unofficial patient, that's grounds for a lawsuit if he was a paying customer. Barry said it was free therapy in exchange for being a personal trainer, so we have to assume nothing illegal but slightly morally wrong may have happened. He seems to be the most put together of the family but they throw in a tidbit where he used to be fat and ate his problems away. Pete is a side character mostly but I found him to be the most liked character of the line up, he wasn't very realistic but I found myself being really fond of him. He really likes Jo and is there to comfort her, he is a little unrealistic in that he gets through it all seemingly unscathed. He takes in stride all the drama and even defends this family despite the fact that Jo wouldn't even call him her boyfriend until she was faced with the ex boyfriend. He helped steal a body from the morgue on a whim. The entire movie was filled with so much drama and gave no real resolution to any of the conflicts presented besides they all have to feel closer because they committed a crime together and it's implied the dad died soon after they burned Max's corpse. Granted Pete and Jo seem like an actual couple if only slightly less forced looking. I would not watch it again. In the end I'm not sure this needed the Viking undertones at all, and besides the dad, mikiwei, and max no one really knew what it meant. Sure Jo and Pete read Max's book but neither really bring up any ideas that went into it.

I surprisingly loved this movie, there was something so real about it, not so much in the story but the places, the people... I was not expecting to like it so much and the performances are really good. Sarah Hyland was particularly impressive, and for the first time I saw her as a woman, and not a child from Modern Family, but in my opinion is Steve Howey character that makes this movie Awesome, he is hilarious...It's a really funny movie at times but it is also sad and full of melancholia, but what I appreciate the most is that it has a real life scenario, that not many movies have nowadays and it left me with the same feeling that i get when i finish reading a really good book, almost like an emptiness, because it's over and you loved it. Overall I think this movie is special.

To be honest..... Not a bad movie at all !! I don't get the bad reviews, because I could actually relate to all of the characters. And yes, because I'm a musician, I've seen them all, and they do exist ! And yes, I've seen families like this and they do exist ! One guy a bit out of it ( not gonna tell you which one..), but it is believable. And, well.... It's a comedy-drama... There is not much action, but it is well paced, with the comedy just let to speak for itself. And the drama did just as much. Not the best movie of all times, but certainly not the worst ! I liked it !And what's this thing here on IMDb ? With their 10 lines minimum ??? Morons !!