After The Wedding

Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen), the director of an Indian orphanage, grudgingly returns to his native Denmark to meet with Jørgen (Rolf Lassgård), a wealthy businessman looking to dump a few million into a charity. But Jørgen's unusual request for Jacob to attend his daughter's wedding unearths a trunk of family secrets, with Jacob at the epicenter. It takes nearly an hour to get to the central conflict of Susanne Bier's mostly domestic drama; there's also a slim subplot about charity and self-sacrifice, and the capriciousness of the wealthy abstractly responding to the needs of the poor. But despite its slower pace, the film is well acted, and shot in some lovely locations in and around Copenhagen. The plot is more daytime drama than real life, but ultimately, the strong performances and the sadness at the heart of the story will likely win you over. In Danish, with subtitles. Starts Fri., May 4. Manor [capsule review]