Nikolaj Coster-Waldau Movies
After a number of roles in his native Denmark, actor Nikolaj Waldau began appearing in U.S. films in the early 2000s with bit parts in Black Hawk Down and Wimbledon, to name a few. In 2007, he landed the lead role on Fox's New Amsterdam, a supernatural cop show from director Lasse Hallström. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide- 2008
Norwegian director Nils Gaup takes the helm for this sweeping Nordic epic tracing the struggle of the indigenous Sami people against the Swedish exploiters who reap the profits of their misery and desperation. Swedish entrepreneur Ruth (Mikael Persbrandt) is the proprietor of a Kautokeino trading post that also doubles as a popular pub. It's one of the few places that the semi-nomadic Sami can go to purchase essential living supplies and knock back a few drinks. The situation gets complicated when alcoholism begins to run rampant among the Sami men, the reindeer herds are neglected, and the women prove incapable of taking on the responsibility due to their depleted numbers. Enraged by her people's indifference and disturbed by her husband Mathis (Aslat Mahtte Gaup)' constant state of drunkenness, obstinate Sami Elen (Anni-Kristiina Juuso) determines to invoke a positive change by encouraging her husband and neighbors to purchase their supplies from the neighboring town of Karesuando. Once there, the group is taken by the fire and brimstone sermons of charismatic preacher Laestadius (Michael Nyqvist), who condemns the sins of alcohol and vice. Their eyes suddenly opened, Mathis vows to put down the bottle and Elen begins preaching Laestadius' word around Kautokeino. As a result, Ruth's business suffers and a new pastor arrives in town to quell the dissent. This development doesn't sit too well with the outspoken Elen, who gathers the rest of the Sami and leads the march to Ruth's to settle the matter once and for all. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anni-Kristiina Juuso, Mikal Gaup, (more)
- 2008
Originally slated to make its Fox network bow on September 25, 2007, but held up due to production problems, New Amsterdam was rushed onto the network's schedule during the 2008 Hollywood writers' strike, with only eight of the propose thirteen episodes in the manifest. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau starred as John Amsterdam, an NYPD homicide detective who somehow always found himself assigned to cases involving supernatural or paranormal activity. Though most of his colleagues didn't know it, John came by his sensitivity for other-worldly manifestations honestly: He himself was an "immortal", and had been since 1642. At that time, John was a Dutch soldier serving in the colony of New Amsterdam; in the line of duty, he sacrificed his life to save a Native American girl whose tribe was being massacred. The grateful girl cast an ancient spell on John, allowing him to live forever; the spell could only be broken if John, in true "Flying Dutchman" fashion, were to find his One True Love. While this backstory explained the tinge of sadness in the modern-day John Amsterdam's eyes--after all, over the past 367 years he had outlived everyone whom he ever cared about--it did not quite explain how he'd been able to keep his immortality a secret for so long. At any rate, at the time of the series' premiere John had just experienced an epiphany, indicating that the end of his life was near and that he would soon find both closure and that elusive True Love--but not before a lot of traditional cop-show violence and Highlander-style special effects. Others in the cast included Stephen McKinley Henderson as all-wise jazz club owner Omar, the only person who knew the truth about John; Zuleikha Robinson as John's feisty NYPD partner Eva Marquez; and Alexie Gilmore as Dr. Sara Dillane, who spent much of her time trying to figure out why John had recovered so miraculously after she'd declared him dead of heart failure. Swedish film director Lasse Hallstrom, whose previous credits included What's Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules and Chocolat, served as New Amsterdam's co-executive producer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Zuleikha Robinson, (more)
- 2007
An actress tells a little white lie to land a plum role only to find the truth catches up with her in this comedy/drama from Sweden. Bella (Martina Haag) is inching into her forties, and doesn't feel as if she has much to show for it in her personal and professional lives. Bella learns that Ingmar Bergman will be directing a new stage adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, and she decides to take a chance and show up for an open audition. After Bella's reading, one of the members of the production staff asks if she has a background in acrobatics. Eager to land the part, Bella says yes, and to her delight she's cast in a small role while striking up a romance with another member of the troupe (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). However, with each passing day Bella becomes increasingly aware that if she doesn't tell someone that she doesn't know the first thing about acrobatics, her esteemed director will find out the hard way. Underbar Och Alskad Av Alla (aka Wonderful and Loved by All) was based on a novel by Martina Haag, who appears at Bella in this screen adaptation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martina Haag, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, (more)
A businessman becomes the last line of defense for his family and his business in this thriller. Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford) is an upper-echelon technology executive at Landrock Pacific Bank, a leading financial institution based in Seattle. Stanfield oversees security for Landrock, and has made sure that their online banking services are the best-protected in the world, and that the bank's data is safe from hackers and other intruders. However, Stanfield finds out the hard way that his system does indeed have a flaw when he's visited by Bill Cox (Paul Bettany), a cold and calculating man who has spent months learning everything there is know about Stanfield and his family. Cox's underlings have taken Stanfield's wife, Beth (Virginia Madsen), and their two children hostage, and they inform Jack that they will be released only when he uses his knowledge of the bank's security systems to deposit 100 million dollars in Cox's account in an offshore bank. Stanfield is deeply wary but willing to go along to ensure the safety of his family, but when he has reason to doubt that Cox and his cohorts will live up to their end of the bargain, he swings into action to exact justice against the criminals. Firewall also stars Alan Arkin, Robert Forster, and Mary Lynn Rajskub. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harrison Ford, Paul Bettany, (more)
Ridley Scott directed this epic-scale historical drama inspired by the events of the Crusades of the 12th century. Balian (Orlando Bloom) is a humble French blacksmith who is searching for a reason to go on after the death of his wife and children. Balian is approached by Godfrey of Ibelin (Liam Neeson), a fabled knight who has briefly returned home after serving in the East. Godfrey informs Balian that he is his true father, and urges the blacksmith to join him as he and his forces journey to Jerusalem to help defend the holy city. Balian accepts, and he and Godfrey arrive during the lull between the Second and Third Crusades, in which the city is enjoying a fragile peace. Both Christian and Muslim forces are temporarily in retreat, thanks to the wisdom of the Christian monarch King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), his second-in-command Tiberias (Jeremy Irons), and Muslim potentate Saladin (Ghassan Massoud). Violent agitators on both sides are foolishly eager to end the peace in a bid for greater power, and Saladin bows to pressures from Muslim factions; Godfrey is one of a handful of brave knights who has thrown his allegiance behind Baldwin IV and his community of diversity, and Balian joins him as they use their skills as warriors in a bid to build a lasting peace. Kingdom of Heaven also stars Eva Green as the princess Sibylla, David Thewlis as Hospitaler the priest, and Brendan Gleeson as Reynald. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, (more)
Also (and more pointedly) entitled The Headsman, Simon Aeby's scope period drama Shadow of the Sword uses its narrative to explore conflicts and tensions during the notorious 16th century Inquisition. Nikolaj Coster Waldau and Peter McDonald play Martin and Georg, two men who meet and bond as youths in a European monastery, then part ways and diverge paths; Georg becomes a cleric at a nearby abbey, Martin a soldier in the Army. The adult men reconnect following a fifteen year absence, and not long after, Martin (in the face of overwhelming dissuasion from Georg) falls head over heels in love with Anna - a social outcast because of her father's role as executioner. Martin and Anna marry, and - in a beat that recalls Berlanga's El Verdugo - Martin is forced to enter his father's line of work as a decapitator - a role he performs fluidly and effectively. Trouble brews, however, on two fronts: from Fabio, a handicapped local who covets Martin's new job, and from an Inquisitor (legendary playwright Steven Berkoff) who arrives to oversee George's execution when the local archbishop grows dissatisfied with him - forcing Martin to step in and act as George's salvation. Meanwhile, Brother Bernhard schemes to rob the church of stability. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter McDonald, (more)
Directed by Richard Loncraine, Wimbledon follows the plight of aspiring tennis-star Peter Colt (Paul Bettany), whose bad luck seems to manifest itself just about everywhere. Professionally, Peter is near the very bottom of the world tennis ranks, and personally, he can't find love despite his best efforts to do so. In a rare turn of events, however, Peter is chosen as a wildcard to play at Wimbledon, the tennis world's most prestigious competition. While there, he meets American tennis ingénue Lizzie Bradbury (Kirsten Dunst), and his confidence on the court and off improves tenfold as he falls further in love with her. Driven by his newfound luck, Peter climbs to the top of the tournament players at record speed, until he actually has a fighting chance of winning the men's singles title -- the question is whether or not his good fortune will hold out long enough for him to get the trophy. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kirsten Dunst, Paul Bettany, (more)
Peter O'Donnell's novels and comic strip was previously brought to film by actress Monica Vitti and director Joseph Losey in an eponymous 1966 spy spoof. Quentin Tarantino had been interested in bringing the character to the screen for a series of films, but the idea languished. Reportedly, Miramax rushed My Name Is Modesty into production because their option on the material was on the verge of expiring. While there were rumors that Luc Besson was going to direct, with Natasha Henstridge starring, that version never came to fruition. The film was released straight-to-video with Tarantino's imprimatur. Relative newcomer Alexandra Staden plays Modesty, and the film serves as a prequel, an introduction to the character of O'Donnell's work. It opens in the Balkans where some soldiers happen upon a resourceful little girl, a wild child. The film then flashes forward to Modesty as a young adult running a casino for the shady businessman, Louche (Valentin Teodosiu). When ruthless bandits attack the casino and the staff is taken hostage, Modesty secretly signals her partner, Garcia (Raymond Cruz), that there's trouble, then buys time by engaging the bandit leader, Myklos (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau of the original Nightwatch), in a battle of wits. She uses the roulette wheel to barter the lives of the hostages for bits and pieces of her life story. And so the film flashes back to her orphaned past, showing how she was taken in by Lob (Fred Pearson), a wily older gentleman, who taught her to read and write several languages and how to thrive in a dangerous world. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alexandra Staden, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, (more)
The true story of a major breakthrough in intelligence technology created during World War II provides the backdrop for this blend of mystery, romance, and espionage, based on the novel by Robert Harris. Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) is a gifted mathematician who is working with the British government on the development and maintenance of the Enigma machine, an electronic device that allows Allied intelligence agents to decode scrambled messages sent by Germany military officers. But the emotionally fragile Jericho is buckling under both the pressure of his work and the collapse of his relationship with Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), a co-worker with whom he's fallen deeply in love. After suffering a minor breakdown, Jericho is sent on a leave of absence, but when he returns to work, a crisis awaits: it seems the Germans have instituted a new code that the Enigma is not yet able to crack, and Jericho is needed to help unravel Axis communiqués before an important convoy of troops and materiel sets sail. It is also suspected that a German undercover agent has infiltrated the Enigma project, and Wigram (Jeremy Northam) is determined to ferret them out. In the midst of all this, Jericho receives troubling news that Claire has gone missing -- and that a file of German messages waiting to be decoded was found at her home. As Jericho works against the clock to crack the new German code, he forms an initially uneasy alliance with Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet), Claire's roommate and a fellow member of the Enigma project, as they try to discover Claire's whereabouts. Enigma was co-produced by Mick Jagger, who has a keen interest in the history of the real-life Enigma project, and even owns one of the original Enigma decoding machines. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, (more)
A quickly forgotten chapter in United States military history is relived in this harrowing war drama from director Ridley Scott, based on a series of Philadelphia Inquirer articles and subsequent book by reporter Mark Bowden. On October 3rd, 1993, an elite team of more than 100 Delta Force soldiers and Army Rangers, part of a larger United Nations peacekeeping force, are dropped into civil war-torn Mogadishu, Somalia, in an effort to kidnap two of local crime lord Mohamed Farah Aidid's top lieutenants. Among the team: Staff Sgt. Matt Eversmann (Josh Hartnett), Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight (Tom Sizemore), the resourceful Delta Sgt. First Class Jeff Sanderson (William Fichtner), and Ranger Spec. Grimes (Ewan McGregor), a desk-bound clerk getting his first taste of live combat. When two of the mission's Black Hawk helicopters are shot down by enemy forces, the Americans -- committed to recovering every man, dead or alive -- stay in the area too long and are quickly surrounded. The ensuing firefight is a merciless 15-hour ordeal and the longest ground battle involving American soldiers since the Vietnam War. In the end, 70 soldiers are injured and 18 are dead, along with hundreds of Somalians. Black Hawk Down was voted one of the top ten films of the year by the National Board of Review prior to its limited Oscar-qualifying release. On the basis of his work in this film, co-star Eric Bana, a relatively unknown Australian actor playing Delta Sgt. First Class "Hoot" Gibson, won the lead in director Ang Lee's version of The Hulk (2003). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, (more)
- 2000
Aage Rais directs this grim tale about murderous pogroms and tourism. Young Dane (Pelle Hvenegaard) signs on as a peacekeeper in Bosnia and is quickly disgusted by the force's inability to stop violence against civilians. Later he, along with sergeant Holt (Nicolaj Coster-Waldau), guides a trio of blood-thirsty tourists looking to kill. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pelle Hvenegaard, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, (more)
- 1999
Adapted from the semi-autobiographical fiction of Scandinavian author Askel Sandemose, Misery Harbor concerns Espen (Nikolaj Coster Waldau), an introverted young author in love with a young woman named Jenny (Anneke von der Lippe). Jenny is involved with a literary critic, so, hoping to impress her, Espen asks her to read the manuscript of his first novel. In the novel, the protagonist, much like Espen himself, runs away from the Danish factory town of his birth and finds work on board a British ship, where he meets Wakefield (Stuart Graham), an ill-tempered ne'er-do-well. Wakefield is determined to make Espen's life miserable at every opportunity, and when Espen jumps ship in Newfoundland and begins to court Eva (Margot Finley), Wakefield is on hand to spoil that as well. Misery Harbor was the first in a series of films co-produced by Canadian and Norwegian production companies. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Stuart Graham, (more)
- 1998
Simon Staho directed this Danish-Icelandic thriller, scripted by Stahho in collaboration with lead actor Nikolaj Coster Waldau. Copenhagen-born Ossy (Waldau) arrives in the suburbs to intrude on the family life of former friend Jimmy (Mads Mikkelsen). When they were pals at age 18, Jimmy accidentally killed a man. The two then left Denmark and traveled to the Far East, engaging in drug smuggling in Thailand until Jimmy departed, settling down in Reykjavik with his Icelandic wife Anna (Palina Jonsdottir). Ossy's arrival spells trouble, as Jimmy is caught between his devotion to Anna and Ossy's proposal of a drug deal. Shown at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival and the 1998 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Mads Mikkelsen, (more)
The debut feature from Danish director Ole Bornedal, Nattevagten is a psychological thriller starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. While a serial killer is on the loose, brutally murdering several prostitutes, college-student Martin (Coster-Waldau) takes a job as the night watchman at the local mortuary in order to pay his law-school tuition. As it turns out, the bodies of the victims are being stored at that very mortuary. When Martin takes a bet that involves tampering with the bodies, he suddenly finds himself a suspect in the case. Bordenal, who also wrote the script, later remade Nattevagten in Hollywood under the title Nightwatch. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kim Bodnia, (more)
