The two Danish Resistance fighters of the title (Flammen og Citronen in the Danish original) don't have nearly as much fun killing Nazis as do Quentin Tarantino's Basterds. Maybe it's because their shadowy boss lets them kill only Danish Nazis, not the German occupiers or even the monstrous head of the Gestapo, Hoffmann (Christian Berkel).
Or maybe it's because this film is based on a true story that director Ole Christian Madsen feels must be told with earnest noir and war-movie clichés. It might also be because this is a Scandinavian film, and the two assassins have to wallow in the morass of relationships and confront the futility of it all as well as fight for the honor and freedom of the Motherland.
The outstanding Mads Mikkelsen brings a lot of sweating and a funny hat to Citronen, who's reduced to robbing a grocery store to get food for the family. Thure Lindhardt as Flammen has red hair and an icy stare but still falls for Ketty (Stine Stengade), who wears a wig and might be a femme fatale.
