Thomas Vinterberg’s intoxicating Oscar winner joins booze-fuelled classics such as Whisky Galore!, Sideways and Leaving Las Vegas
When it comes to dealing with drinking on screen, films tend to be in one of two categories: grim-faced portrayals of the perils of alcoholism, or merrily tipsy comedies in which booze yields a chain of hijinks. It’s by falling precisely halfway between these two barstools that Thomas Vinterberg’s wonderful, Oscar-winning Another Round – now out on general VOD, and from Monday on DVD and Blu-ray – stands out. It’s that rare film that equally conveys both the joys and dangers of drinking, and never feels glib or sanctimonious in the process.
Much of this is down to a tremendous performance by Mads Mikkelsen as midlife-restless high school teacher Martin, attempting to reinvigorate his stagnant routine with an experiment in alcoholic microdosing – meticulously maintaining a consistently moderate blood alcohol level – and initially finding life a little brighter and faster for it. Then, well, things change. Martin undertakes the project with a group of colleagues who manage it with varying degrees of control. As a study in the intimacies and limitations of male friendship, it’s alternately raucous and deeply moving. Vinterberg is most perceptive on how drinking binds people and pries them apart; the film leaves you sober and a little giddy at once.