An excellent movie, Kaurismäki's usual minimalism and subtle black humor translate well into UK English and the actors totally get him. I even enjoyed Léaud's performance, although I had found his performances weak or grating in some of the classic French films that had made him famous.

Despite the English settings and French lead, there's no avoiding how Finnish this film is: cold, taciturn, dryly funny. Aki's surrogate Helsinki is an immersive world, rendering a broad palette of emotion in the monochromatic hue of the absurd.

Kaurismaki working in English kind of reminds me of Kusturica working in English -- the tone is the same, but it seems like the heart isn't in it. There are some really, really funny bits of dry, black humor (Leaud's firing is a scream) but the non-comedic bits feel empty and rote.