17 year old Sigga wants to leave her Icelandic home and move to California. Her friends want to join her, but she insists on going right away. This has a pretty girl on the cover and a standard indie premise. It is a mostly Iceland cast with a few Hollywood types in supporting roles.
First, there is the language. For a few minutes, I thought they were trying for a British accent. Then the Bjork-with-less-fairy accent do become noticeable. I would have preferred the Icelandic language instead and drop the Hollywood actors. It would give this indie more authenticity. As it stands, this is a lower grade Hollywood copy of an Icelandic indie. In addition to authenticity, there is also a need for better comedy. The movie tries like carrying the canoe around. It's funny-like work, but it's not actually funny. Quite frankly, it would matter less if they are speaking in a foreign language. Once they use English, the actors need better timing to do any jokes properly.
The general concept is fine. Sigga should show the audience her Icelandic world and when she leaves, she can feel the nostalgia for it. That's the proper story. This movie barely shows what Iceland is really like. The friends are just a bunch of non-descript kids. The most memorable thing is Judd Nelson having two jobs. He's able to sell the limited comedy there. I'm not sure who decided to make this movie in English. That was a mistake.
