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Network: Netflix

Episodes: 24 (hour)

Seasons: Three

TV show dates: February 6, 2012 -- November 21, 2014

Series status: Cancelled

Performers include: Steven Van Zandt, Trond Fausa Aurvåg, Steinar Sagen, Marian Saastad Ottesen, Sven Nordin, Kyrre Hellum, and Anne Krigsvoll.

TV show description:

An over-the-hill American Mafia man requests relocation to the former Olympic village town of Lillehammer, Norway after he enters the Witness Protection Program. The underboss soon discovers that a life of crime pays well in any country.

The newly minted Giovanni Henricksen (Steven Van Zandt) sees little need to hack it as a straight citizen in his new home. Well versed in the art of getting connected, he attempts to cut his regular corners at every turn.

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2011′s Headhunters is a refreshing blast of blackly comic Norwegian fun that mixes laughs and blood-soaked shenanigans into a deliriously enjoyable cinematic cocktail, and it rightfully exposed Jo Nesbø‘s fiction (on which it was based) to a wider audience. Remake rights were snapped up by Mark Wahlberg, Nesbø’s other books received attention from Hollywood (including one that attracted Martin Scorsese’s eye) and it even made our 2011 Best Foreign Films of the Year list. But it wasn’t the only movie that year to be based on the best-selling Norwegian author’s work. Jackpot features a lot of the same ingredients — dark comedy, graphic violence, inept criminals — but those similarities start and end at the surface. Oscar Svendsen (Kyrre Hellum) is the only survivor of a shootout that left eight people dead. The police are actually working the carnage-strewn crime scene when Oscar arises from beneath a corpse surprised both that he’s alive and...

Magnus Martens' Scandinavian sleeper hit Jackpot (2011) is an exciting, playful and bloody comedy from the producer of 2006's Cold Prey. Based on the book by Norway's leading crime writer, Jo Nesbø, the film follows a group of scruffy young men, all of them with a criminal background, including Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), Thor (Mads Ousdal), Billy (Arthur Berning) and Tresko (Andreas Cappelen). To celebrate this release, we have Three DVD copies of the film to give away, courtesy of Metrodome Distribution. This is an exclusive competition for our Facebook and Twitter fans, so if you haven't already, 'Like' us at facebook.com/CineVueUK or follow us @CineVue before answering the question below.

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Jackpot

Stars: Kyrre Hellum, Henrik Mestad, Marie Blokhus, Andreas Cappelen, Arthur Berning, Mads Ousdal | Written by Magnus Martens, Jo Nesbø | Directed by Magnus Martens

After thoroughly enjoying Headhunters earlier in the year, I was quite geared up for a rollover of Norwegian noir from none more blackly comic Scandinavian scribe Jo Nesbø. Jackpot is another slice of Tarantino/Coen Brothers-esque crime capery with a rich seam of dark humour running through it like a nine inch nail through the cranium.

Our ‘hero’ is Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), who works at a factory that takes old plastics, chips them up (remember that, it’s important) and turns them into small fake Christmas trees. Oscar’s company specialises in employing ex-cons. As such, Oscar finds himself keeping some less than reputable company. Soon he is embroiled in a football pool with three of his colleagues, which, due to a quirk of fate, they...

Strangulations, ground-down corpses and bodies concealed inside tanning beds... surely we're talking about Tarantino or perhaps even one of the Coens' grittier films? Jackpot follows on from the phenomenal surprise success of last year's Headhunters, using another Jo Nesbo novel as source material for this darkly comic crime story. Having sold over nine million books, Norway's leading crime writer doesn't disappoint, again helping to sustain Scandinavia's current reputation as producers of high quality crime fiction.

Opening with a police interview set-up, Oscar Svendson (Kyrre Hellum) is quickly established as the film's protagonist. Combining filmed footage through the camera and 'live' action, Director and co-writer, Magnus Martens, uses Oscar's vulnerable situation to quickly make him a sympathetic lead. Having woken up weighed down by a corpse and surrounded by seven others in a Swedish strip joint, covered in blood and carrying a shotgun, Oscar has a lot of explaining to do...

Jackpot

Written for the screen and directed by Magnus Martens

Norway, 2011

Following Headhunters, Jackpot is the second of an increasing list of Jo Nesbø adaptations for the big screen, and is similarly concerned with a hapless individual thrown into increasingly violent and absurd predicaments. Magnus Marten’s film’s greatest strength is its frequently funny blend of dry humour with dark, violent comedy of a cartoonish nature. It’s this quality, and the general idiocy of the film’s protagonists, that brings to mind certain Ealing comedies and the Coen brothers. A particular body disposal sequence and the winter setting initiate Fargo comparisons specifically, though Jackpot’s attempts at tension never reach the levels that duo’s comedic thrillers still tend to possess. A big factor for this is the film’s framing device, which involves a sole crime-scene survivor and suspect, still bloodied, regaling the events that have got him to that interrogation room.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry (15)

(Alison Klayman, 2012, Us) Ai Weiwei, Danqing Chen, Ying Gao. 91 mins

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360 (15)

(Fernando Meirelles, 2011, UK/Aus/Fra/Bra) Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law. 110 mins

Suffering from a surfeit of international stars and locations, this join-the-dots drama zips between a series of emotional episodes without ever gaining much momentum.

The Dinosaur Project (12A)

(Sid Bennett, 2012, UK) Natasha Loring, Matt Kane, Peter Brooke. 83 mins

Chatty Brit explorers regret discovering a modern-day Lost World in the Congo in this low-budget cross between Monsters and Jurassic Park.

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(Joshua Marston,...

I heard “based on a novel by Jo Nesbo,” and I thought: Heh heh. Because Headhunters, also adapted from a Nesbo book, is wickedly funny and sharply pointed in ways that very few other crime films would ever go near. Could I dare to hope that another film would even come close to doing the same? Alas, Jackpot does not. (This was written and directed by Magnus Martens, who was not involved with Headhunters.) Oh, to be sure, it has some outrageously, disgustingly funny moments -- I laughed a lot, in isolated bursts -- but it’s lacking that certain oomph that would make it unquestionably brilliant. As the film opens, we meet Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), a regular schmoe with a Chris Evans vibe, except he’s a bit dumb. Oscar was discovered, uninjured, under a dead body after a shootout at a sex shop/strip club, which makes me...

The latest Jo Nesbø adaptation fulfils the gore quota, but its sense of humour is suspect

Scando-gore addicts unsated by the current glut on TV, or that dished up by the likes of Headhunters, will feast on this latest Jo Nesbø adaptation to splatter down the chute. Kicking off in a police cell, the film tells us how our hero, Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), ended up beneath an obese stripper's dead body in a porn shop bloodbath. The violence seems tonally familiar; the humour (there's a faint Full Monty feel to the backstory about how three ex-cons go awry after winning the lottery) is a less easy fit. It lays on lashings of crim-bickering and jauntily scored arterial spurting when all you can stomach is some crispbread.

Rating: 3/5

CrimeThrillerJo NesbøCatherine Shoard

guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is...

Jo Nesbø has sold over 9 million books – This film is based on a story you haven’t read… An exciting, playful and bloody comedy from the producer of Cold Prey and based on a story by Norway’s leading crime writer, Jo Nesbø. Jackpot tells the story of four scruffy young men, all of them with a criminal background. Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), Thor (Mads Ousdal), Billy (Arthur Berning) and Tresko (Andreas Cappelen). They work at a factory in the middle of nowhere that makes plastic Christmas trees. And they bet on soccer …

Oscar Svendsen wakes up, terrified and bloodied; a shotgun in his hands, in what was once a respectable strip joint near Svinesund, Sweden. He is surrounded by eight bodies, and police detective Solør has a gun aimed at his chest. Solør is convinced of his guilt, but Oscar persistently denies any wrongdoing.

Reluctantly Oscar starts relating the incredible...

Here’s the UK trailer for Jackpot which is based on the book by Jo Nesbo (who has sold over 9 million books!) and will be with us 10th August. It’s directed by Magnus Martens and stars Kyrre Hellum, Marie Blokhus, Henrik Mestad, Mads Ousdal, Arthur Berning and Andreas Cappelen. We’re hearing good things abut this one and it’s well worth checking out next week when it’s released in a cinema near you. Check out the trailer below.

Oscar Svendsen wakes up, terrified and bloodied; a shotgun in his hands, in what was once a respectable strip joint near Svinesund, Sweden. He is surrounded by eight bodies, and police detective Solør has a gun aimed at his chest. Solør is convinced of his guilt, but Oscar persistently denies any wrongdoing.

Reluctantly Oscar starts relating the incredible story of four men who won top prize in a soccer...

Jo Nesbø has sold over 9 million books – Jackpot is based on a story you haven’t read.

Oscar Svendsen wakes up, terrified and bloodied; a shotgun in his hands, in what was once a respectable strip joint near Svinesund, Sweden. He is surrounded by eight bodies, and police detective Solør has a gun aimed at his chest. Solør is convinced of his guilt, but Oscar persistently denies any wrongdoing.

Reluctantly Oscar starts relating the incredible story of four men who won top prize in a soccer pool and suddenly found themselves 1,739,361 kroner richer. But it turned out to be difficult to divide the money by four.

Jackpot is an exciting, playful and bloody comedy from the producer of Cold Prey. It is based on a story by Norway’s leading crime writer, Jo Nesbø. We meet a group of scruffy young men, all of them with a criminal background. Oscar...

Jackpot

Stars: Kyrre Hellum, Henrik Mestad, Marie Blokhus, Andreas Cappelen, Arthur Berning, Mads Ousdal | Written by Magnus Martens, Jo Nesbø | Directed by Magnus Martens

After thoroughly enjoying Headhunters earlier in the year, I was quite geared up for a rollover of Norwegian noir from none more blackly comic Scandinavian scribe Jo Nesbø. Jackpot is another slice of Tarantino/Coen Brothers-esque crime capery with a rich seam of dark humour running through it like a nine inch nail through the cranium.

Our ‘hero’ is Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), who works at a factory that takes old plastics, chips them up (remember that, it’s important) and turns them into small fake Christmas trees. Oscar’s company specialises in employing ex-cons. As such, Oscar finds himself keeping some less than reputable company. Soon he is embroiled in a football pool with three of his colleagues, which, due to a quirk of fate, they...

Jo Nesbø has sold over 9 million books – This film is based on a story you haven’t read. Jackpot is based on a story by Norway’s leading crime writer, Jo Nesbø and comes from the producers of the Norwegian slasher movie Cold Prey. The film follows a group of scruffy young men, all of them with a criminal background. Oscar (Kyrre Hellum), Thor (Mads Ousdal), Billy (Arthur Berning) and Tresko (Andreas Cappelen). They work at a factory in the middle of nowhere that makes plastic Christmas trees. And they bet on soccer…

Oscar Svendsen wakes up, terrified and bloodied; a shotgun in his hands, in what was once a respectable strip joint near Svinesund, Sweden. He is surrounded by eight bodies, and police detective Solør has a gun aimed at his chest. Solør is convinced of his guilt, but Oscar persistently denies any wrongdoing. Reluctantly Oscar starts relating the...

From Scandinavian writer Jo Nesbø comes another adaptation of his work 'Jackpot' which looks to follow in the success of 'Headhunters.' Directed by Magnus Martens the film stars Kyrre Hellum, Henrik Mestad and Marie Blokhus.

Oscar Svendsen (Kyrre Hellum), a factory worker who wakes up in a Swedish town to find himself surrounded by dead bodies and with a policeman's gun aimed at his chest. But how did it come to this? Oscar recounts the story of a big win on the football pools, a group of ex-cons and a whole lot of nastiness.

'Jackpot' is out on August 10.

This endless series of sublime Scandinavian crime thrillers has a new hero: Jo Nesbø. Of course, Nesbø is hardly new news - he's sold nine million books around the world - but with an upcoming adaptation of Jackpot, the trailer for which has just landed, and Headhunters, he's fuelling a renaissance in the genre on the big screen too. Click below for a look. brightcove.createExperiences();Our 'hero' is Oscar Svendsen (Kyrre Hellum), a factory worker who wakes up in a Swedish town to find himself surrounded by dead bodies and with a policeman's gun aimed at his chest. But how did it come to this? Oscar recounts the story of a big win on the football pools, a group of ex-cons and a whole lot of nastiness.Jackpot is out on August 10. brightcove.createExperiences();...

Oscar Svendsen (Kyrre Hellum) wakes up in a seedy strip club, underneath the body of a dead oversized stripper, and surrounded by cops. What follows is the story of how he got there told mostly through flashbacks while being investigated by a very thorough and incredibly compelling detective (Henrik Mestad). This is a tale of lottery, greed, corruption and fake recycled Christmas trees.

Jackpot is bloody good fun, pure and simple. It is a pitch black Norwegian comedy that tosses around clever dialogue and dead bodies with glee. The structure is similar to films like The Usual Suspects and there are familiar elements throughout, although it all still feels fresh and fun. Jo Nesbo.s writing is sharp and each character is a good mix of quirky and dangerous. Director Magnus Martens handles the material quite well and strikes a good balance of comedy, blood splatter and intrigue. There are...

Magnus Martens’ producer may not have like his crime comedy very much, but he did like something Jo Nesbø wrote and so the core concept for Jackpot landed in Martens’ hands. The action comedy focuses on an innocent factory owner named Oscar (Kyrre Hellum). When Oscar’s employees, all ex-cons, aren’t churning out little fake Christmas trees, they’re up to no good. Well, at least Thor, Dan and Billy (Mads Ousdal, Andreas Cappelen and Arthur Berning) are. The trio convinces Oscar to join in on their can’t-lose soccer bet, but when guys actually win, rather than split the cash and enjoy their riches, people start dying. In honor of Jackpot’s international [ Read More ]...

Jackpot

Written by Magnus Martens

Directed by Magnus Martens

Norway, 2011

Perhaps the cold in Norway brings something ugly out of people, or perhaps the ugliness was always there and the cold is merely a coincidence. The new Norwegian comedy Jackpot doesn’t take an opinion either way, but instead simply drops the ugliness on a plate and garnishes it up with so much absurdity that it will be impossible not to laugh.

Oskar (Kyrre Hellum) and three of his co-workers hit the top prize in a soccer-picking lottery, with more than 1.7 million kroner to split between them. As one might imagine, that’s not the end of their problems, but merely the beginning, as they start turning on each other before their celebratory bender is even finished. Then the best-laid plans to get away with the resulting murders go wrong, and the best-laid backup plans go wrong, leading to more...

So here we have Arthur Berning, Mads Ousdal, and Kyrre Hellum in a scene from Jackpot, which has its International Premiere in the Cinemania strand at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.From a highly reliable source I've heard Magnus Martens' dark crime-comedy described as "very Guy Ritchie"--which I took in a good way, meaning early Guy Ritchie.Well, this image would certainly seem to bear that out. Characters sitting around and talking, both trying to clarify a complex plot and adding to it--until sudden, bloody violence erupts. Yeah, sounds like my kind of movie....

Director: Arild Fröhlich

Writers: Arild Fröhlich, Lars Gudmestad, Lars Ramslie

Cast: Nils Jørgen Kaalstad, Josefin Ljungman, Kyrre Hellum

This review of Fatso is brought to you by the makers of The Fleshlight. “The Fleshlight, the worlds #1 selling male sex toy.” It should be pointed out that this review is actually Not sponsored by the Fleshlight but it definitely gets its moment to shine in this film. Fatso is a wonderful tale of a man and his roommate that could be considered a coming of age tale for both the man, and his roommate.

Read more on Fantastic Fest 2010 Review: Fatso…...

Reviewed at Fantastic Fest 2010.

The lonely men of the Swedish "Corridor" and the Norwegian "Fatso" have a lot in common. They live by themselves, they're uncomfortable with other people, they like to eat in front of their TVs, and their solitary lives are disrupted by flaky, outgoing girls who drive them nuts with their loud lovemaking and demands for interaction.

The woman in "Corridor" (written and directed by the Johans Lundborg and Storm) is Lotte (Ylva Gallon), a hairdresser who corrals her downstairs neighbor Frank (Emil Johnsen) into first helping her move desk, then in loaning her some laundry detergent, then in shifting her boyfriend Micke's (Peter Stormare) motorcycle. Micke has some anger issues, and Frank, an anal-retentive med student who would rather spend all of his time studying, finds the addition of Lotte and her lover to the building begins to really get in the way of his work.

This is the ninth film review in the coverage of this year's Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. If you expect to see a dumb comedy, Arild Fröhlich's Fatso will prove you that your expectations were wrong. In fact, the Norwegian film Fatso is one of the few comedies about sex that, on the surface, looks vulgar, but hides many layers of depth.

Rino (Nils Jørgen Kaalstad) is a fat and lonely man living in an appartment. When he's not translating instruction manuals from German to Norwegian, Rino likes to watch pornographic films and jerk off. Besides, in his wildest dreams, Rino also sees himself as a sexually hungry rhinoceros named Captain Cock, a comic book character Rino created. One day, Rino gets a new roommate in the form of Malin (Josefin Ljungman), a beautiful Swede who came to Norway to study. While Malin treats Rino like a friend at most,...

[Our thanks to Nicolas Krief of Panorama Cinema for the following review and Maude Michod for the translation.]

Based on its sexually suggestive poster and trailer, Fatso appears to be about a fat pervert and his relationship with the female body. Rino lives alone, works as a translator and draws comic books in his spare time; however his main hobby is masturbation. Along with his friend Fillip, he goes to strip clubs and have strange sex habits and discussions. However, his life is about to change when his father introduces him to Malin, his new female roommate.

Fatso sometimes tries to be a Scandinavian equivalent of There's Something About Mary without offering any particularly successful laugh gags. However, the film is not a complete failure as many eccentric characters save the film by adding a good dose of pathos. Fillip (Kyrre Hellum), an unforgettable supporting character, has a fascinating screen presence and a peculiar physique, and we simply cannot wait for him to appear on screen.

Fatso is...

Editor’S Note: This is one of several interviews, conducted via email, with directors whose films are screening at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. “North” (World Narrative Feature Competition) Director: Rune Denstad Langlo Screenwriter: Erlend Loe Cast: Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Kyrre Hellum, Marte Aunemo, Mads Sjoegaard Pettersen, Lars Olsen, Astrid Solhaug Synopsis: Five years ago, Jomar (Anders Baasmo Christiansen) had a great girlfriend and a promising future as a professional skier, but …...