Synopsis
Cecilie and Joachim are about to get married when a freak car accident leaves Joachim disabled, throwing their lives into a spin. The driver of the other car, Marie, and her family don’t get off lightly, either. Her husband Niels works in the hospital where he meets Cecilie and falls madly in love with her.
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Cast
- Sonja RichterCecilie
- Nikolaj Lie KaasJoachim
- Mads MikkelsenNiels
- Paprika SteenMarie
- Stine BjerregaardStine
- Birthe NeumannHanne
- Niels OlsenFinn
- Ulf PilgaardThomsen
- Ronnie LorenzenGustav
- Anders NyborgRobert
Recommendations
- 91
Portland Oregonian
Although the plot might sound like the stuff of a soap opera, a smart script, strong performances and an ideologically determined lack of filmmaking niceties result in a shattering, deeply felt work. - 89
Austin Chronicle
The Dogme pedigree rarely distracts; there is too much emotional investment to care much about dogmatic fidelity. - 83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
While the characters lack the quirks and affectations that have enlivened the impulsive figures from past Dogme films, the passion of the players and Bier's sensitive direction give these utterly normal figures a vivid aliveness, along with dignity and everyday beauty. - 83
Entertainment Weekly
Well-made film. Indeed, discovering such a small pleasure is the kind of experience that rewards film lovers who browse with open eyes as well as hearts. - 80
L.A. Weekly
A very good new Dogme by Danish director Susanne Bier, begins with several lives in excellent working order, and proceeds by way of domestic tragedy to a full-court emotional train wreck. - 80
Village Voice
However schematic, the movie percolates with immediacy and genuine warmth. - 75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Bier knows what she's doing, and the performances are expert and affecting. But this meditation on love -- and love's bad timing -- is also improbably accommodating to its characters' respective longings. - 75
Boston Globe
Open Hearts, like all good melodramas, is ruthless in its insistence that people are dragged, uncomprehending, in the wake of events.
