A Beautiful Life, the new Danish Netflix movie that began streaming last week, is mostly an excuse for Danish pop singer, Christopher Lund Nissen (or simply “Christopher,” his stage name) to show the world he’s a sensitive, hunky heartthrob. The 31-year-old singer recorded a new album for the movie’s soundtrack, which also released last week, featuring nine new songs written by him—including an autobiographical song about his reaction to his wife informing him she’s pregnant. (This is relevant because it will come up again later, in an inexplicable plot twist.)
Christopher’s biggest hit is arguably still his 2016 single, “I Won’t Let You Down,” featuring American singer Bekuh Boom, but perhaps a Netflix movie will help increase his fame outside of Denmark. That’s clearly the hope!
Though some aspects are inspired by Christopher’s real life, the movie is a fictional drama, in which Christopher stars as a humble fisherman named Elliot, who, with very little effort on his part, rockets to fame after he’s discovered by a producer playing an open mic at a bar. However cheesy you think this movie is going to be: It’s cheesier. Read on for Decider’s movie review of A Beautiful Life, now streaming on Netflix.
The Gist: Elliott (Christopher) is just a lowly fisherman trying to scrape by. He has no aspirations of becoming a professional musician. His buddy Oliver (Sebastian Jessen), however dreams of becoming a star singer. Elliott agrees to accompany Oliver on the guitar at an open mic, during which Oliver knows a famous music producer will be present. When Oliver flubs his singing, Elliott swoops in to save him—and, lo and behold, he’s a much better singer than his friend. Oliver and Elliott get into a fight after the set, which leads to Oliver cutting Elliott out of his life. Luckily, the music producer, Suzanne (Christine Albeck Børge) offers Elliott a new life: Come to her studio for a few weeks, and she’ll make him a star.
After getting fired from her job, Elliott takes Suzanne up on her offer. Suzanne introduces him to her daughter, Lilly (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas), also a producer, who will work with him to write a new album of songs. After a rocky start, Elliott and Lilly hit it off, fall in love, and sleep together. Also, the album is an instant hit. Suddenly, Elliott is an overnight superstar. Girls scream for him while he conducts interviews, as if he were Paul McCartney in 1964. Everything is going great… until Elliott’s old BFF Oliver slinks back into his life, and wants a piece of his fame. Things pretty much spiral from there.
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s every cliché of a rags-to-riches musician drama rolled into one, but if I had to pick one, I’d say A Star Is Born. (My deepest apologies to every version of A Star Is Born. None of you deserve this.)
Performance Worth Watching: A Beautiful Mind is very clearly a vehicle for Christopher to earn more fame, but, to his credit, he is a decent actor. When he stands in front of a huge crowd and hears them singing back the words that he wrote, his eyes shimmer with emotion, and only the most cynical will remain unaffected. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that the scene is a manufactured dream come true for any singer-songwriter—it’s easy to imagine that Christopher, in that moment, wasn’t acting.
Memorable Dialogue: Early in the film, Oliver tells Elliott, “If we’ve got nothing to die for, what the hell are we doing?” which later provides inspiration for Elliott’s first big hit.
Sex and Skin: Christopher spends a not-insignificant portion of the film with his shirt off, showing off his many tattoos and impressive physique. There’s also one implied, fade-to-black sex scene after our two romantic leads take turns sharing their sob stories.
Our Take: Christopher is undeniably a great singer, and watching him perform is a pleasure. Unfortunately, A Beautiful Mind fails to construct an interesting, or even coherent plot to connect those performances. The film is decidedly not a comedy, and yet I found myself laughing out loud time and time again, at the sheer absurdity of the characters’ actions. (The group of eight screaming teenagers banging on the windows while Elliott talked to a radio DJ was particularly mirth-inducing.) The dialogue is so cliché, you wonder if writer Stefan Jaworski was even trying. Poor translation can only excuse so much; surely “He can sing, but he’s scared,” is trite in any language. More than that, Lilly’s traumatic backstory—that her father died by suicide, unable to handle the pressure of the music industry—is handled poorly, with little nuance or understanding of a serious real-life issue.
Then there’s the (spoiler alert!) completely out-of-left-field plot twist that Lilly is pregnant. Its obviously manufactured so Christopher can end the movie on the song he wrote about his actual baby and actual wife, but feels entirely forced for the character he’s playing. It’s a fittingly ridiculous ending for a ridiculous film.
Our Call: A Beautiful Mind is beyond clichéd—it’s borderline non-sensical. Unless you’re a Christopher super fan who’s just here for the eye candy: SKIP IT.