From the whacked mind of Lasse Spang Olsen comes a prequel to the cult hit “In China They Eat Dogs” – OLD MEN IN NEW CARS. Every bit a black comedy/action film as its predecessor (but adding a love story and some pastry), OLD MEN IN NEW CARS is the back story of Harald, restaurant owner and career criminal, and brings back Harald’s ‘gang’ of Peter, Martin and loveable, yet inept Vuk, plus introduces Harald’s mentor Munk, his psycho son Ludvig, and suicidal blonde Mille, who is just crazy enough to handle the whole lot of them. Quite the heady mix, campers....

So, the film opens with Harald being released from prison. There is no one there to pick him up. Ratko and his Serbian gangsters drive up – Ratko wants the money Harald owes him. Harald asks if he might be allowed to get out of prison first. Back at the restaurant, Martin and Peter are working on a recipe to get them into the Danish Pastry Championships. When Harald arrives, he’s not interested in their endeavor; he wants to know why no one picked him up. He also doesn’t like what they’ve done to his place. He disregards them when they tell Harald they want out of the criminal life. And who the hell did they hire to help out? Vuk? Ratko tells Harald he can have more time to repay the money if he treats his nephew Vuk right. Harald reluctantly agrees.

Harald receives a tragic phone call – his mentor Munk is seriously ill and in the hospital. Harald is crushed seeing a man he considers his surrogate father in such bad shape; he asks Munk if there’s anything he can do. Munk asks to see his real son, Ludvig, whom he’s never met. Harald swears he’ll find the boy. It seems Ludvig takes after his old man; he’s in a Swedish prison for murdering five women. Even so, Peter concocts an elaborate plan to spring Ludvig, and while things don’t go exactly right, Harald and the boys manage to get Ludvig free. Harald delivers Ludvig to Munk, and father and son share a bonding moment. Harald learns from shady Dr. Erling that Munk can get a new liver - if they can fly him to Ecuador. So Harald plans a bank robbery with Martin, Peter and Ludvig. This time it’s a colossal cluster fuck; when the bullets start to fly, Ludvig takes the suicidal Mille hostage. She absolutely overwhelms everyone, including Harald (who can’t knock any sense into her). But they actually manage to get away with some cash.

Peter has another brilliant idea – he knows a star soccer player, and the team is going to take it easy this game. So Harald puts everything on the other guys. Of course, they lose it all. Harald goes nuts and kidnaps Peter’s friend. Things get even worse when Vuk accidentally electrocutes the soccer star. Broke, with a dead body to worry about, Harald goes to the hospital to see Munk. There, he finds Ludvig with a dead nurse. She ‘fell.’ Suddenly, Mille appears. She thanks Ludvig for saving her life at the bank, and slugs Harald for hitting her. Harald responds by shooting her. What’s Harald going to do now? He needs money to save Munk, money to pay off the restless Serbs, and he’s got three bodies in the freezer. Well, two... You’ll have to see OLD MEN IN NEW CARS yourself, but believe me; the real craziness has yet to begin!

Arvid, the main character in “In China They Eat Dogs” seeks his brother Harald to help him out of a wildly tangled situation; Harald agrees without hesitation, because Arvid is family. In OLD MEN IN NEW CARS, we learn why Harald accepts his brother’s request so readily – Harald needs his family. It can be a blood relation, or a mentor (Munk), or even his ‘boys’ Martin and Peter, but being part of a family is the Harald’s driving force. His devotion is such that Harald is willing to risk everything to help his kin – his own death is irrelevant as long as it’s in support of the family. Which is why despite his many flaws (tantrum much?), Harald is a scoundrel you can’t help but like. The entire film may focus on Harald’s obsession, but doesn’t neglect the supporting characters; Martin and Peter still can’t catch a break, new guy Ludvig has some serious ass woman issues, and poor idiot Vuk continues to fuck everything up. Make no mistake; OLD MEN IN NEW CARS is a dark comedy in every sense of the word. From suicide to misogyny to incest to necrophilia to incestuous necrophilia there’s no taboo the film won’t take a poke at. But to lighten things up, there are plentiful action scenes, which the Missus described as “live action cartoons”. Wait until you see the airplane sequence. The actors give uniformly excellent performances; these are disturbed men (and women), but you can’t help but like them and their...umm...foibles.

The picture quality of OLD MEN IN NEW CARS is very good; the editing is deftly done to allow the film to flow with the character’s emotions. So when Harald loses his temper, prepare for the pace to suddenly go to ‘11’. Audio is clear; the movie is only available subtitled, so no critique of the American dub needed today. The soundtrack matches the film well – if not exactly memorable, it is pleasant nonetheless.

Unfortunately, there are not many extras included on the DVD of OLD MEN IN NEW CARS. We get a trailer, a still gallery, and some previews. I would really have liked a ‘making of’ featurette, or at least cast interviews. It seems a cheat to have so few extras for a thrilling film like OLD MEN IN NEW CARS.

Even though it is a prequel to “In China They Eat Dogs”, one can enjoy the action and black comedy of OLD MEN IN NEW CARS on its own merits. Certainly not for the faint of heart, this film rolls over the top action, crazy characters, offbeat comedy, la familia and a psychotic love story into one extremely entertaining menagerie. So grab your favorite pastry, sit back and take a ride with OLD MEN IN NEW CARS.