review for Elling on AllMovie

There have probably been too many films made about lovable crazies turned loose on the world, but Petter Naess' Elling is still a refreshingly good-natured comedy-drama about two mental patients trying to adjust to life in the outside world. Naess and screenwriter Axel Hellstenius adapted the script from Hellstenius' play, which was itself adapted from Ingvar Ambjornsen's best-selling Norwegian novel. Per Christian Ellefsen, who plays the extremely phobic title character, and Sven Nordin, who plays Kjell Bjarne, Elling's roommate, and resembles a hulking Scandinavian version of Gérard Depardieu, both played their parts on-stage. Their long-term familiarity with the characters and material may be what gives their performances and the relationship between their characters such a warm, lived-in feel. At times, Elling and Kjell threaten to become a bit too cute and cuddly (one can imagine Robin Williams playing Elling in the Hollywood remake), but Naess and Hellstenius leave them with just enough rough edges to suspend belief. They're aided by Ellefsen's appropriately brittle performance (particularly in his inappropriately possessive feelings toward those he cares about) and by Nordin, who tempers Kjell's gruff likeability by allowing us to see glimpses of a violent rage simmering beneath the surface.