Heroes of Probability

Seclusive officer Markus (Mads Mikkelsen) returns home to Denmark from an overseas deployment when his wife is lost in a train crash. While his daughter Mathilde (Andrea Heick Gadeberg) searches for meaning in the tragedy, Markus just wants to be left alone. He mourns in his own unique way. But then the mathematician Otto (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) suddenly appears on his doorstep. Otto was also in the train accident and had given his seat to Markus' deceased wife. For him it is clear: the whole thing was not an accident. Together with his colleague Lennart (Lars Brygmann) and the hacker Emmenthaler (Nicolas Bro), Otto wants to prove to Markus that his wife was the victim of an attack, behind which a gang called the Riders of Justice is responsible. The hunger for revenge grows more and more in the taciturn soldier and together the unequal troop sets out to put a stop to the Riders of Justice. But then it comes to their attention that someone is on to them....

"Heroes of Probability" is the new film from Anders Thomas Jensen, who has already proven himself a master of deep black humor with "Adam's Apples" or "Danish Delicacies". At the beginning of this new film there is not much of that, as the story starts with a real tragedy. Jensen has also realized it in such a way that it hits the audience with full force. It's all the more surprising how well the humor, which comes into play a bit later, matches it. This is in large part due to how the individual characters are drawn.

They are all special, somewhat quirky, and yet somehow very likable and endearing. It just seems coherent that these characters act against what is actually a very sad background with dry wordplay and bitterly wicked humor. This way, even the somewhat absurd story can develop credibly. This works really well over long stretches, but in contrast to Jensen's earlier films it also has a few lengths. These are however very well absorbed by the actors.

Mads Mikkelsen is just as great as a thuggish soldier as Nikolaj Lie Kaas as a cranky mathematician and Nicolas Bro las wayward hacker. It's just fun to watch this bunch on their quest for revenge. And the last act really packs a punch, so that at this point at the latest the small weaknesses of the production are forgotten. "Heroes of Probability" may not be Anders Thomas Jensen's best film, but it is again a very, very entertaining, wonderfully wicked fun that fans of his earlier films should not miss. Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp