A small-town man gets a job to be the bearer of bad news in The Middle Man. Frank Farelli (Pål Sverre Hagen) enters the town hall of Karmack to be interviewed by The Commission of The Sherrif (Paul Gross), The Doctor (Don McKellar), and The Pastor (Nicolas Bro). The job Frank is interviewing for is to be Karmack's new “Middle Man” and deliver bad news to the next of kin of the victims of the town's many accidents. Getting the job on a trial basis, Frank is proud of the new responsibilities to possesses, though he soon finds himself at the end of his rope.
The Middle Man is a Canadian/Norwegian co-production from writer/director Bent Hamer, based on the novel by Lars Saabye Christensen. This dark comedy stars Pål Sverre Hagen (Kon-Tiki) as Frank Farelli, a recently unemployed man still living at home with his mother (Nina Andresen Borud). Frank hopes to do well with his new position as the town's Minute Man and even strikes up a relationship with his co-worker Brenda (Tuva Novotny). However, Frank catches the ire of Brenda's ex Bob (Trond Fausa), which kickstarts a series of unfortunate incidents for Frank.
If anything, The Middle Man is notable for its stacked cast of both Scandinavian and Canadian actors, including Paul Gross (Passchendaele), Don McKellar (Last Night), Rossif Sutherland (Hyena Road), Aksel Hennie (Headhunters), and Nicolas Bro (Riders of Justice). The first itself is a somewhat quirky tale of a town plagued by horrific accidents and the effect this has on protagonist Frank. Admittedly, I think The Middle Man misses an opportunity to go much darker with this premise, but it is still a fine enough romp.
