Laura Malmivaara

An old dog has a hard time learning new tricks in this drama set in Turku. Ari, a paramedic, is a chronic womanizer; he makes it a point of pride to never sleep with the same woman twice, and his nights are a long series of brazen one-night stands. But when Ari meets Tiina (Laura Malmivaara), something unexpected happens - he falls in love. For the first time, Ari finds himself pursuing a long-term relationship, and he makes a genuine effort to remain faithful to her. But old habits die hard; Tiina introduces Ari to her circle of friends and temptation arises as he encounters Hanna-Riikka, a theology student, and Ilona, who is soon to be married. Despite Ari's feelings for Tiina, he begins having affairs with both Hanna-Riikka and Ilona, leading to an unpleasant revelation on the day of Ilona's nuptials. ~ Mark Deming, Allrovi

Vares, a film noir comedy from Finland, is yet another twist on PULP FICTION. And, just in case we miss the similarities of splattered blood mixed with outrageous incidents, the movie explicitly references PULP FICTION and has a comedic scene in which two guys argue about McDonald's hamburgers. Still, VARES - PRIVATE EYE, by director Aleksi Mäkelä, manages to be kind of fun even not especially original. The script has more characters than the screenwriter can handle, leaving the audience frequently confused about who is doing what and why. The two best scenes are one about a wacky wedding and another about a guy who answers a cell phone call while he is busy enjoying the pleasures of a sex parlor.

Pete is a football enthusiast, who plays as a goalkeeper for FC HeMan, a team playing in the lowest possible league. His girlfriend, Anna, hates the whole sport. Pete and his teammates are planning to travel to watch the Football World Cup held in Germany. Anna is not excited about Pete's plan to leave her alone for the summer. Therefore Anna decides to present a challenge to Pete: She will form a team from the wives and girlfriends of the FC HeMan players, and then the women's team (FC Venus) would play against FC HeMan. If the women's team wins, the men will have to give up football, and if the men's team wins, the women will never complain about their hobby.