The Boss of It All

After making a pair of stripped-down polemical critiques of American history (with the poorly-received Dogville and Manderlay), Danish director Lars von Trier expands his definition of directorial "dogma" with The Boss of It All, a clever comedy that will delight Von Trier's established fans and frustrate those unfamiliar with his approach to filmmaking. The plot is reminiscent of the popular Kevin Kline comedy Dave (in which Kline's character is hired as a look-alike to replace a comatose U.S. president), only this time the "character" is an out-of-work actor named Kristoffer (Jens Albinus) hired to act the part of president of a Danish IT company about to be sold to an Icelandic corporation. The company's real owner (Peter Gantzler) created the fake position to shield himself from employee complaints regarding business decisions, but now he needs a "real" president in the flesh. Of course, Kristoffer's “performance” only creates escalating complications as the actor is forced to improvise his way through personal squabbles, contract negotiations, and the threat of employee mutiny—all scenarios that allow Von Trier to explore pointed themes related to greed, ambition, manipulation, and accountability. Less effective, however, is Von Trier's experimental use of "Automavision," a semi-random technique which surrenders camera control to a computer program, resulting in deliberately sloppy framing and actors frequently bobbing in and out of the frame. It's an affected and off-putting experience that makes it seem like there's no boss behind the camera. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include a "making of" featurette, profiles of Von Trier and his cast, and a featurette about the "Automavision" camera technique. Bottom line: a decent extras package for an uneven film.] (J. Shannon)