Intimate Headshot

Intim fejlövés; drama, Hungary, 2009; D: Péter Szajki, S: Gyözö Szabó, Tibor Gáspár, Lehel Kovács, Zsolt Huszár, Eszter Nagy-Kálózy, Kata Gáspár 

Several stories unravelling during 24 hours: Gabor is about to get married to Eva, but she shocks him when she admits that she was once a man who underwent transgender surgery. Angered, Gabor trashes the house and goes to a striptease club... Tomi is a 27-year old virgin who is horny, and meets Kati who lives in the neighboring apartment. He gets drunk and tries to seduce her, but she thinks he wants to rape her and bites his nose. Kati later apologizes and admits she only came here because she wanted to cut all her ties with her abusive ex-boyfriend. When Tomi wants to ask her out again, he finds Kati having sex with her ex-boyfriend. Disappointed, Tomi goes to a strip club... After he met a girl over a chat website who talks suggestive things, Akos wants to kiss her, but she runs away. Back at home, Akos' wife leaves him because she suspects an affair. Disappointed, Akos goes to a strip club... Balazs finds out his girlfriend, Hajni, has an affair with his best friend. Disappointed, he goes to a strip club.

This anthology film assembled out of four stories by director and writer Peter Szajki is a proportionally well made achievement, enriched with dark humor and linked with a single theme of four men who were (sexually) disappointed by women and thus all meet in the finale in the striptease club, yet the movie seems to be missing that final act that would offer some more meaningful connecting tissue or a bigger point than just that the four protagonists meeting at the striptease club, the end. "Intimate Headshot" works the best during several comical moments, such as when Kati asks Tomi what he is doing outside his apartment with only one slipper on his foot, and he replies with: "I'm looking for the other one", or when the wife, suspecting an affair, asks Akos where he got that scratch on his hand, and he gives a lame excuse that a "big pigeon attacked him", upon which the wife says: "Well, greet your little female pigeon". However, more could have been done since the movie is not that funny nor emotional nor as inspired as it could have been. Overall, a good little film that can be easily watched, with a fine cast that all give very good performances.

Grade;++