Mads plays mad Viking

The Last Viking could easily take on the title Yet Another Beatle since lead actor Mads Mikkelsen wears both a horned helmet and sergeant Peppers satin jacket with equal aplomb and relevance. As Manfred, Mikkelsen plays a man whose undefined mental illness causes problems after his bank robber brother Anker asks him to hide the loot and not reveal its location. Returning from prison 15 years later, Anker wants his money but gets no answers from Manfred—now in an institution and only answering to the name John Lennon. Breaking out John and some  cohorts calling themselves George and Ringo, Anker faces an assortment of odd dilemmas when he brings the group to an old family homestead and starts digging holes while the erstwhile Beatles start singing ABBA tunes. Using crazy in the nice sense of the word, writer/director Anders Thomas Jensen enjoys goofing around with Nordic Noir and Coen Brothers sensibilities. An Oscar winner for a short film and considered one of Denmark’s top auteur directors, Jensen displays the barb and confidence shown in his other movies like Chicken & Men, working again with a team of actors led by former Hanibal Lecter Mikkelsen and including Nikolaj Lie Kass of the Department Q series. Dark and violent but played for laughs, The Last Viking blends disturbing  acts with sweet ones, adding musical interludes and some psychological insights.