Identify this scuzzy European comedy

May 9, 2022 5:47 PM

I saw a movie I am trying to recall. It was European, probably Scandinavian. I am 100% dead certain it was not in English. It concerned a fantastically lunkheaded group of burnout male friends. They were underachievers with mullets and drank/smoke/did drugs constantly. They were terrible people. It was possibly based on a TV show and it may have even been the second time they made it to the cinema. It would have been sometime between maybe 2005-2012.

Again: not in English. Probably Scandinavian.

posted by DirtyOldTown to Media & Arts (19 answers total)

Response by poster: Two more things: one, I feel like it might have escalated into a final battle of some kind; two, I'm serious about being positive it was not in English and if you suggest things that are in English you will bring shame upon your username as Someone Who Does Not Read the Whole Post.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:02 PM on May 9, 2022 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: Not greasers. Mullets and sports jerseys, tank tops, trainers, etc. Sort of if Kid Rock had a fan base in Scandinavia. Not 100% on Scandinavian, but pretty sure. Call it 85%.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:14 PM on May 9, 2022

Response by poster: Nope, not The Dudesons. And my spouse has just reminded me that the Netherlands are not Scandinavian. So it could also be Dutch. In fact, I am thinking it probably is.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:25 PM on May 9, 2022

Does Grotesco seem at all familiar? It was featured here on the blue.
posted by Gable Oak at 6:25 PM on May 9, 2022

Response by poster: Nope, not Grotesco.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:28 PM on May 9, 2022

Are they a family? Could it be the Flodders?
posted by pullayup at 6:28 PM on May 9, 2022

Response by poster: Nope, not the Flodders. Four or five idiot friends. Mom's basement living/crappy apartment sharing idiot friends.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:31 PM on May 9, 2022

Because you talk about it escalating to a final battle -- is it Man Bites Dog? (From 1992, in Belgian French.)
posted by BlahLaLa at 6:52 PM on May 9, 2022

Response by poster: Respectfully, not even close. Think four to five dudes who look like Dutch or Scandinavian analogues of Joe Dirt facing off against their crappy town.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 6:56 PM on May 9, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: "New Kids Turbo, sometimes promoted as New Kids: Turbo!, is a Dutch black comedy film based on the television series New Kids."

There are also guns and mullets.
posted by Adifferentbear at 7:56 PM on May 9, 2022 [7 favorites]

Response by poster: THAT IS EXACTLY THE ONE.

Thank you!
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:59 PM on May 9, 2022 [3 favorites]

WOW
posted by sixswitch at 9:07 PM on May 9, 2022

Leningrad Cowboys do America by AKI Kaurismaki?
posted by slimeline at 12:35 AM on May 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

(If European comedies featuring people with mullets are your thing - then Leningrad Cowboys do America (trailer) is indeed your starting point. )
posted by rongorongo at 3:37 AM on May 10, 2022

Response by poster: Reading over the description, this is all coming back to me. These goofballs all get laid off/fired and blame it on the economic downturn, as opposed to being useless layabouts (the more likely cause). They decide to "protest" by refusing to participate in the consumer system. I.e., they stop paying for stuff. It goes poorly and they end up in a battle with the town.

If I recall correctly, they are pretty casual about using homophobic and sexist language in a very 1980's way, as sort of general slurs.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:04 AM on May 10, 2022

If you like mullets, maybe track down a copy of FUBAR, a Canadian movie set in Calgary and peopled exclusively by everyone I was scared of/intrigued by in high school.
posted by Lawn Beaver at 8:35 AM on May 10, 2022 [2 favorites]

I thought this might be La Merditude des choses (aka The Misfortunates), a Belgian film by Felix van Groeningen, which, even if it is not the thing you are looking for, is highly recommended! Mullet and handlebar moustache quotient extremely high.
posted by remembrancer at 2:24 PM on May 10, 2022

Trailer Park Boys in the genre.
posted by Oyéah at 4:09 PM on May 10, 2022

Response by poster: THIS IS THE SCENARIO IN WHICH I JUDGE SOMEONE FOR NOT READING THE WHOLE POST.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:00 PM on May 10, 2022