AllMovie

Love, honor, and Icelandic football are making life difficult for one aging slacker in this dark comedy. Toni (Thorhallur Sverrisson) is a thirty-something football fanatic whose desire to become wealthy has not been matched with a similar dedication to hard work or an abundance of ambition. Toni has an ex-wife, a daughter, and a girlfriend ten years his junior, none of whom share his overwhelming enthusiasm for football or video games, and all of whom wonder when Toni is going to make something of himself. Toni thinks he's finally found the perfect get-rich-quick scheme when he strikes up a deal to import Bulgarian Opal cigarettes in Iceland; business is slow at first, but when word spreads that the Opals have been doctored for greater potency, Toni soon has as much business he can handle, despite being subjected to frequent criticism about the health hazards of smoking. But bad news always seems to be around the corner for Toni, and it's hard to say what bothers him more -- legal problems that could put him out of business and into jail, his ex-wife's decision to move to America and take their daughter with her, or the news that his favorite football team is on a losing streak and about to be knocked down to second division status. Islenski Draumurinn was shot using digital video equipment, and while it was not produced in strict accordance with the Dogma 95 movement, director Róbert I. Douglas has cited the austerity of the Dogma style as an important influence on the film's look and feel.