Don't be fooled by the ironic title - - this Danish mid-life-crisis drama deals with terminal illness, marital infidelity and dysfunctional family relationships, to name but a few.
Paprika Steen takes on the challenging lead role of Nete, a controlling thirtysomething who's juggling career and family commitments. The pressures are mounting: she has moved her leukemia-stricken father (Ole Ernst) into the flat, her struggling-writer husband Kristian (Troels Lyby) is sleeping with a student, and their teenage daughter Katrine (Molly Blixt Egelind) is entering a rebellious phase. Plus she's trying to negotiate a truce between her gay brother and traditionalist father.
Okay lacks the galvanising intensity and unruly spontaneity of the best Dogme films, recalling last year's unremarkable Minor Mishaps, also scripted by Kim Fupz Aakeson. That it merits a watch is primarily down to the rounded central character and Steen's willingness to focus on Nete's less appealing aspects. It's a rich, textured performance, and somewhat let down by the uninspired visual style and soft-centred ending.
NO VERDICT
