After seeing a flashback within a flashback spanning nearly eight decades in its first five minutes, I thought Ali Selim’s debut feature might delve into the mysteries of memory and time. No fear of that: it’s the same old clichés, beautifully shot. Shortly after World War I, Inge (Elizabeth Reaser) lands in Minnesota from Norway carrying baggage: a gramophone and the fact that she speaks only German. She’s a mail-order bride intended for Olaf (Tim Guinee), but instead of bringing marital bliss to the tediously uptight homesteader she invites the ostracism of his fellow Norwegians. Yet how can such phony conflict endure in a world that looks like an airbrushed Andrew Wyeth painting and where all the men have bad haircuts and funny accents? A preacher (John Heard) and a banker (Ned Beatty) stand in for religious intolerance and ruthless capitalism, but the only thing that saves this Land from being utterly cloying is Alan Cumming as a spunky father of nine.

On the Web
Sweet Land's Web site: //www.sweetlandmovie.com/

ADVERTISEMENT