Mostly Martha (Bella Martha) (2001)

Even though No Reservations with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart is basically a scene-by-scene remake, this original from Germany is a far superior film - funny, affecting, and involving, not odd, charmless and limp - but like the Catherine Zeta-Jones film, this too irks with those unnecessary shrink appointments, tacked on at the start and finish and thrown in occasionally here and there, suggesting that despite her being the top chef in Germany who runs her own kitchen and despite her taking in her deceased sister's daughter and caring for her without hesitation, and despite her choosing to take time-out in the walk-in refrigerator rather than lose her steam at at her team, Martha apparently feels herself in need of a mental health professional - or perhaps the writer feels she is - because...why?...she is orderly, in control, and lives life without a man?

★★★★☆

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In A Better World (Hævnen) (2010)

When a father in the company of his young sons and their friend is assaulted by another father in a playground, a chain of events is sparked that for most of this Danish thriller's runtime is a compelling look at bullying and the vicious cycle of revenge, but a really bad decision made by two of the boys at the two-thirds mark rings untrue - especially after they have both heard parental confessions which should heal not exascerbate their delinquence - and from that moment on, the tension is replaced by a melodramatic soap opera that abandons two major plot points.

★★☆☆☆

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