A young girl, Veera (Eedit Patrakka), makes plans to celebrate Christmas with her two friends from the very unusual land of Oddsville in this off-the-wall and funny movie. Her friends are Tatu (Antti Holma) and Patu (Riku Nieminen). Tatu and Patu each have a big spike of hair in the middle of the top of their heads, which gives them an almost unicorn appearance.
This movie is filled with atmosphere. It was filmed in Finland and the viewer can tell by the lip sync, which is occasionally just a bit off. However, the English is easy to understand. And the rows of houses which are decorated with Christmas lights, and the homes surrounded by snow gives the film a warm holiday feeling.
The movie opens with Veera being late to pick up Tatu and Patu from the train station, so they wander off, which leads to some real comedic moments as well as mishaps.
When Tatu and Patu spot some men with beards in a local department store, they use their “hair grower” solution to instantly grow beards. In a funny scene, Veera comes along a bit later and spots the remains of the hair grower, in the top of the trash can, and she knows they were just there. “We missed them by a hair!” she crows. Tatu and Patu also think it’s a form of celebration to put cinnamon under your armpits. Do they try this? Of course!
In another amusing scene Tatu and Patu come across the artist Rafael, who has an artistic scene featuring pudding, which looks like snow. When Rafael accidentally drops all the pudding from his artwork to the floor, Tatu and Patu decide to help clean it up, which includes them laying in it and moving like they’re making snow angels, to get the pudding off the floor!
In another humorous scene Tatu and Patu spot a display Santa outside, and think he’s real. But they’re not entirely sure who the old man with the white beard is at first. “Is that Spider-man?” one of them asks. “I think that’s a different superhero” the other one replies. “I think that’s Santa Claus.” They decide to saw him in half in order to take him to Veera as a present. “Timber, Santa!” they cry as his upper half tumbles to the street. Later, they find a “live” Santa in the department store. “His eyes are moving!” one of them says. And they know this one is alive when Patu smells under one of his armpits. “His fragrance is strong!” he says. A girl who spots Tatu and Patu think they are elves, Santa’s helpers. They also wind up trapped in the department store at closing time, which leads to more humor.
A woman who spots the two tells them they need to decorate a Christmas tree, not Santa, so they buy one and plan to decorate it as lavishly as they can, with the hope of adding cinnamon to it. The movie features many funny scenes, including the first time Tatu and Patu get on an escalator. One of them heads up and one heads down! They call to each other, trying to get back together. Vera gets to have some fun too, having a snowball fight with Martti (Sulevi Peltola). Will Veera and Tatu and Patu have a reunion by the conclusion? You will have to watch to find out.
The movie also features some jazzy and rock music, at up-tempo times in the story. This holiday film has earned our Dove seal for All Ages.
The Dove Take
These visitors from Oddsville add to the lightness of the holiday spirit with some very funny moments and the entire family can enjoy their antics by watching this comedic movie.
