Aberdeen

Fasten your seat belts for a decidedly bumpy ride when a coke-snorting corporate lawyer is reunited with her estranged unrepentant alcoholic father in Hans Petter Moland's superbly acted road movie Aberdeen. Lena Headey stars as Kaisa, whose celebration of a promotion is cut short when her mother (Charlotte Rampling) phones to cajole her into picking up her father, Tomas (Stellan Skarsgård, Breaking the Waves), who has agreed to enter an experimental rehab program. It turns out, however, that dad knows nothing of this and is less than enthusiastic about the prospect. But despite a series of humiliating episodes (including Tomas being barred from flying and vomiting on his daughter), Kaisa is determined to fulfill her mother's wish. While a bare plot synopsis makes this sound hackneyed, the performances cut through any vestiges of sentiment, with Ian Hart also appearing in an excellent turn as a truck driver who comes to the uneasy riders' aid and breaks through Kaisa's defensive shell. Highly recommended. (K. Lee Benson)