SmugKitZine Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Merolliv I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

snitchseekerpm It's something different, that's for sure . The story captured me with the promise of closeness to a culture often perceived as cold and distant. The local casting in that sense, fulfilled expectations with eccentric characters, of which Josephine Bornebusch arises as a fresh and natural face. Greg Poehler, creator, writer and star of the series, wants to surprise us with the strange Swedish customs. But he loses the ability to amaze himself with the typical behaviors of Americans, that he represents. I think this perspective would have been rich and even captured more public in the U.S.A. After low ratings, the series was canceled. Still, I recommend it for those who want to binge over a non-typical comedy.

SnoopyStyle Bruce Evans (Greg Poehler) is an accountant with a few celebrity clients. He abandons his life and job in America to follow his girlfriend Emma Wilk (Josephine Bornebusch) back to Sweden. He's unemployed and doesn't understand Swedish. Her mother Viveka (Lena Olin) thinks very little of him. Her father Birger Wilk is a quirky retired sea captain. Her brother Gustav is 30 years old and living off of his parents.The problem is that Bruce is so pathetic. He's more than a loser. He's so pathetic that he's actually kind of annoying. He does get a few laughs in but no more than a few for the whole series. Bornebusch is a stiff actress but she does get her laughs when her stiffness breaks down. I love Lena Olin but she has the problem that most of her dialog is in Swedish. That's a major problem for the show. Essentially the audience has the read the funny jokes and it's not as much fun. The show got canceled after 4 episodes in the second season due to anemic ratings.

sherlock-tempest I agree with many reviewers that "Welcome to Sweden" is packed with old fashioned stereotypes and that it is overall painfully badly written and executed, with very few glimpses of intelligent laughter-provoking jokes and acting. It is therefore really a mystery how it has been given a second season. From a Swedish perspective, however, I see a couple of things that I think might have contributed to the "success" of this series despite the at best lukewarm reviews by many critics and audiences. One: Sweden is a tiny country in this big world and Swedes are in awe of the US. When American celebrities (and former ones) show interest in us or even come to our little pond to connect and work, we get all excited and our newspapers and social media go berserk. The series' cameos, no matter being terribly unfunny, therefore attract an automatic audience. Greg P may be a terrible actor and writer, but through his sister Amy he is certainly a strong door opener to a very attractive US market, where not many Swedish TV series have made it before. And yes, nepotism is a big thing in Sweden too so connections beat quality. Two: I think there is an American nostalgia or fascination with Sweden, based on a very limited postcard idea of Sweden, which gives the series a good portion of US viewers. The fact that the series is located in Swedish contexts, with Swedish actors and spoken Swedish, can itself be enough to fulfill a desire of viewers with a connection to Sweden. The quality of the show is in that light not the main thing. I think both Swedish and American audiences deserve much better comedy than this and I can only wish that more talented, intelligent and modern first time writers will get a similar bombastic chance one day in the very small and closed TV world in Sweden.

migcap18 One of the MOST unfunny sitcom in my memory banks!!! Lead Actor CAN'T ACT!!!! He isn't likable on any level and seems more like a deadbeat then successful accountant or ANYTHING. As a American who's lived in other countries. I understand that when you live in places other then your homeland there can be lots of funny moments adjusting.BUT, there's no funny moments here, some have written from the Swedish perspective it funny, COOL I take their word for it. But from this side if the pond I have to agree that I find NOTHING funny in Greg Poehler character. Lazy, self-absorbed Yank unwilling to work as a Accountant and unqualified to do anything else including learning the language of his new country!?! One, Special Guest aren't funny, TWO, Greg Poehler CAN'T ACT and it shows when he's next to REAL ACTORS especially Lena Olin. And I generally love anything she's in and enjoy seeing her speak in her native tongue.The other cast members are good in their rolls and Bornebusch is very attractive, I can see a guy moving to be with her in another country, BUT. THREE, there's no chemistry between them.Even though it been given a second season in Sweden...Strike 1,2,3 = you'll OUT. Time to put this show out of it misery... At least for us in the STATES...