Britt-Marie, 63 years old, has just left a 40 year old marriage and her long life as a house wife. Being told she is a nagging passive aggressive aunt, the new, only job, in small town Borg, will be quite challenging. Small town of Borg has no pride left except the young soccer team and Britt-Marie's new job is to coach them. This is the start of a journey filled with not only struggles and challenges, but also warmth and love.... (Full plot summary below)
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Britt-Marie, 63 years old, has just left a 40 year old marriage and her long life as a house wife. Being told she is a nagging passive aggressive aunt, the new, only job, in small town Borg, will be quite challenging. Small town of Borg has no pride left except the young soccer team and Britt-Marie's new job is to coach them. This is the start of a journey filled with not only struggles and challenges, but also warmth and love.
Leave your thoughts about Britt-Marie Was Here.
| RogerEbert.comNell MinowBritt-Marie Was Here is based on a novel by Fredrik Backman (A Man Called Ove), whose themes often include cranky people who isolate themselves and community sports that bring people together. Thankfully, he and director Tuva Novotny keep the characters astringent and his tone wry, so it never gets cuddly or cloying. |
| The New York TimesTeo BugbeeBritt-Marie Was Here is a relatively unchallenging yet ultimately pleasant watch. |
| Arizona RepublicGarrett MitchellBritt-Marie Was Here succinctly crams in plenty of overwrought tropes but maintains a sentimental heart with its prickly heroine. Is it revolutionary? Not by any means. But is every journey of self-discovery supposed to be? |
| Washington PostThomas FloydIt’s both a success and a shortcoming of Britt-Marie Was Here that the flashbacks to her younger years, and the discovery of what happened to her more free-spirited sister, represent the film at its fullest emotional capacity. |
| San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisThe most refreshing thing about the movie is having a more mature woman at the center of the action, and August knows not to overreach here. She is dryly funny, but also subtly affecting, and it’s a pleasure to watch her heart and mind slowly but surely open up to life’s possibilities. |
| Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinThe film can’t quite surmount its fanciful conceit. |
| Film ThreatAndrew EmersonIts portrayal of Britt-Marie sometimes feels condescending, several of its plot turns make no sense, and its visuals add nothing that wasn’t already there in the original book. |
| User ReviewDawdlingPoetI really liked this film. I like that at times it feels like a feel good film, its light hearted and fun and at other times, there's a poignancy to it, that may make you think. I like the quirky aspect and while there is comedy present, its very much gentle comedy - this isn't a laugh out loud type of a film, more a film that may well make you smile or giggle a bit at times. The characters are pretty endearing and while its a bit sentimental or cheesy now and again, I didn't feel it was unnecessarily sentimental, in a way that ruined it. I liked seeing the flashbacks to Britt's earlier life, considering what other characters say and seeing how she interacted with the youths in the failing youth club. However, I couldn't help but wonder how the heck she got the job she got - not least given it turns out (mini spoiler ahead) a younger and probably more knowledgeable local person had applied for the same position. I suppose I could be accused of being ageist for wondering that but given the context of the job that basically makes the film, I did think it seemed a little...unlikely. That aside, I enjoyed the story, some of the dialogue is good and its a pretty entertaining and somewhat amusing watch, so I'd recommend it on that basis, yes (also, I'll add that I hadn't watched it before as it has an average rate of 5.3 on IMDB and I tend to focus on films that have an average of 6.0 or above. I'm really pleased I saw it - I watched it as I found it on iPlayer available to download and I was looking for some films to watch on a journey, otherwise I probably wouldn't have bothered to watch it). |
| User ReviewCamuser59Art house movies like this are really fun to experiment with. The story is supposed to be uplifting and a tale of a woman who is scorned, rising above the wretched life that was forced upon here. The only problem is that is very slow and literally does not keep up with the kids she meets up with until the very end of the movie. Go to see this film if you are interested in a new telling of an old story of human renewal set in a different country. It is uplifting if you give it time. |
