Shake It All About

Customer Reviews:

Laughing and Crying.......2007-08-14

"Shake It All About"

Laughing and Crying

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

Jacob is a young man who is used to getting everything he wants. He has been living the life of a happy homosexual with his partner Jorgen and he decides to ask Jorgen to marry him. Jorgen says yes with pleasure but then something happens--Jacob falls in love with a girl and it so happens that the girl, Caroline, is married to Jorgen's younger brother. This of course complicates matters and Jacob must decide with whom to spend the rest of his life--Jorgen or Caroline. The problem is that he wants both. When Caroline becomes pregnant by Jacob, things get even more mixed up.
"Shake" is a romantic comedy about Jacob and Caroline falling in love. This should not be a problem with the exception that Jacob is involved with Caroline's brother-in-law and she herself has a husband. The film deals with how long it takes until someone ends up with the person he really loves.
There are some performances in this film and the editing and cinematography is excellent. Jacob is such a spoiled kid and he wants it all--his boyfriend and his girlfriend. The movie is filled with gay stereotypes and the flaws of the movie are generally those problems that deal with romance. Yet the film is so appealing that it is easy to overlook the problems. Scandinavian movies always have a unique look at homosexuality and this one is no exception. It is charming and very funny with several unexpected twists in the plot.
This is a feel good movie. The characters are what make it endearing. The film asks for your sympathy and it does so through its marvelous characters. They are all originals and there are many characters.
If you can find a copy, sit down and spend a great hour and a half laughing at the improbable situation. You won't regret having done so.

Stupid Movie.......2007-06-17

This movie is just plain stupid!!! It probably has one of the most ridiculous endings I've ever seen.

HIGHLY ENJOYABLE.......2006-01-10

While visiting Sweden & Denmark, I bought a heap of Scandanavian movies, "Shake it All About" being one of them. I had no idea what this movie was about, (as it was titled "En kort en lang" on the cover)
but from the moment I started watching I found it utterly charming and very funny, with some unexpected twists in the plot. I would categorize it as a gay comedy soap. The acting is great and the characters were all believable. My only gripe would be with a few bad make-up decisions, especially a less convincing moustache on a supporting character and an amateurishly assembled beard on another. But these are minor problems and did not spoil the movie for me. There are also some inside Danish showbiz jokes which "outsiders" would not understand. But a real fun movie with the kind of wonderful ending you'd expect from a romantic comedy! A movie you can watch more than once.

Ridiculous.......2005-02-09

I think I would rent a movie of Mads Mikkelsen reading a phone book. He's that good. However, this story - while it had a very good beginnning - is terrible. The premise is that Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen), a gay man in a committed gay relationship, becomes attracted to his sister-in-law (Caroline) at a party wherein he has just proposed to Jorgen (his lover). He kisses her, and from then on he can't stop thinking about her, can't stop calling her or making love to her. Jacob lies to Jorgen repeatedly, going back on his word to break off the affair and never to see her again, until she finally becomes pregnant and Jacob asks her to marry him. He moves out of the apartment he shares with Jorgen, Caroline leaves her husband, and they move into his parent's house and prepare for a wedding.

Despite conflicting peer pressure from just about everyone, straight and gay alike, Jacob and Caroline seem to truly be in love, right up until the moment of the wedding, where Jacob suddenly realizes he's really in love with Jorgen and leaves Caroline at the altar, with her full blessing. And then... pigs flew over treetops. No, really, it's THAT unbelievable. The tripe about this film being a "straight romance formula" with a few gay couples inserted is ridiculous, because Jacob's character was despicable. He lied to Jorgen, he cheated on him while they were engaged, he promised never to see Caroline again and quickly broke that promise, and he even brought Caroline to their apartment and had sex with her when Jorgen was recovering in the hospital from an accident. In a romantic storyline, the *only* way Jacob could be forgiven for these acts is if he was sincerely following his heart to be with his true love, no matter how many problems stood in his way. But even that wasn't the case, since he has a fit of fickleness at the altar and decides he's not in love with Caroline at all, but Jorgen! And really, Caroline stepping blithely, smilingly, aside in her wedding dress? Tossing Jacob her bouquet? On what planet would this have occurred? It's not the planet of Thinking Women, I'll tell you that. This movie insults just about everyone with its snide shadings of misogyny, its sticky Hollywood ending (complete with horses) and its gross oversimplification of the mechanics of psychological and sexual attraction.

Watch it for Mads, but only if you can shut off your brain during the ending.

Romance can be complicated.......2004-09-19

"Shake It All About" (orginally titled "en kort en lang" in Danish) is a romantic comedy reflecting the blending of the lines between straight and gay today. When Jacob proposes marriage to his boyfriend of many years, Jørgen, he truly does want to marry him. However, things get complicated when Jacob falls in love with Caroline, who is married to Jørgen's brother. To make things even more complicated, Caroline becomes pregnant with Jacob's child.

Jacob still loves Jøgren and he loves Caroline - who will he choose. Who does Jacob want? And if it's Jørgen, will Jørgen take him back?

Product Description

Denmark released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: Danish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Danish (Dolby Surround), Danish (Subtitles), English (Subtitles), WIDESCREEN, SYNOPSIS: Danish theater director Hella Joof segues into feature directing with her 2002 debut Shake It All About. Madly in love, Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) and Jorgen (Troels Lyby) hope to make it official and wed sometime next summer. However, one fateful night Jacob and Caroline (Charlotte Munck) -- Jorgen's sister -- share an unexpected kiss that makes Jacob's heart flutter with the sudden realization that he not only loves Caroline, but that he is also in love with a woman. As the two begin their secret, tempestuous fling, Jorgen begins to suspect something is amiss and he finally confronts Jacob -- who promptly confesses to his infidelity. Rightfully enraged, Jorgen storms out of the house and gets injured in a car wreck. As Jacob decides to patch things up with Jorgen, Caroline informs him that she is probably carrying his child. While the news is exhilarating, Jacob is not exactly eager to inform Jorgen of this development -- much less Caroline's husband Tom (Jesper Lohmann) -- which leaves Jacob with some tough decisions to make that will affect the futures of nearly all his friends and family. Shake It All About was selected for inclusion into the Cinema of Tomorrow program at the 2002 Montreal World Film Festival.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Trailer(s), Teaser(s), Scene Access, Interactive Menu, Biographies,

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