Why Joachim Trier’s ‘The Worst Person in the World’ is one of the best movies of the year – The Arizona Republic

Occasionally you see a movie that just satisfies on all fronts the performances, the direction, the whole package.

Even less occasionally you see one that does all that and moves you, too. The Worst Person in the World is one of those.

What a triumph.

That description also fits Renate Reinsves performance, which stands out as brilliant even in a cast that perfectly captures what co-writer and director Joachim Trier is going for. Reinsve plays Julie, a young woman in Oslo (the film takes place before and after her 30th birthday).

She never sticks with anything, Julie says at one point. I go from one thing to another.

Indeed, as does the film its told in 12 chapters, along with a prologue and an epilogue which are announced through the voiceover Trier employs.

As for Julie, she goes from being a medical student to studying psychology. Then she decides she wants to be a photographer. Fine, her mother says, as long as you take it seriously.

Taking it seriously isnt really the problem. Signing on for the long term, as Julie suggests, is.

That goes for her relationships as well. She dumps one guy unceremoniously before things meaning movie things, not Julie things really get started. Other affairs lead her to Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie, also outstanding). Hes older, in his 40s, somewhat famous for having created a graphic novel thats being made into a movie, though times have changed; its political correctness, or lack of, will have to be smoothed over, angering Aksel.

Hes worried their age difference will cause problems between him and Julie and wants to break things off; this makes Julie fall in love.

They move in together, but Julie, being Julie, grows restless. She meets Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), a nice, low-maintenance fellow who works in a coffee shop, at a party she crashes.

The entire scene plays out as romantic comedy without any of the disparaging trappings that description has come to signal. Its what the genre could be but isnt much anymore. Its funny and hopelessly romantic as they explore the possibilities of what counts as cheating, the title of the chapter.

A later set piece is magical. Time stops, as does the rest of the world, while Julie runs through the city, enraptured, couples frozen in place (not literally; its warm out), racing toward Eivind. Its a fitting encapsulation of the heady rush of love. Nothing else matters. The rest of the world is just a jumble of stagnant distractions as you rush headlong into your feelings.

Someone uses the title as a self-description, but it doesnt really fit. What Trier has done, with the help of magnificent performances, is make the ordinary extraordinary, which is a mark of a great film.

Reinsves performance has been universally praised, deservingly so. Julie is at times closed-minded, selfish and self-centered. Who isnt? A life based on whimsy is probably a life in need or some repair, but her mistakes are honest ones. Shes not attempting to hurt anyone, though of course she does, as much as she is searching for that most elusive of things: herself.

Reinsve modulates all of the competing emotions and desires perfectly. At times we grow frustrated with Julie. But we never lose interest in her.

Lie has an equally tricky role, his Aksel facing challenges that reveal deeper layers to his character. Lie plumbs those depths with grace and skill. Its Reinsves movie, but it wouldnt be the film it is without Lie.

(Nordrum is plenty good, too good among a couple of greats.)

The various chapters give us some insight into what makes Juile tick her father is a piece of work but she is her own woman. What that means exactly is what shes trying to figure out, and its a joy to watch.

Great Good

Fair Bad Bomb

Director: Joachim Trier.

Cast: Renate Reinsve, Anders Danielsen Lie, Herbert Nordrum.

Rating:Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and some language.

Note: In theaters Feb. 11.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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Why Joachim Trier's 'The Worst Person in the World' is one of the best movies of the year - The Arizona Republic