


“Mango” is a tepid Hispano-Danish romance set in and in the hills above the resort city of Málaga on Spain’s celebrated Costa del Sol.
Rigidly formulaic and strictly low-heat as far as romances go, I’m guessing you can guess every turn the plot takes just by my listing the pertinent plot points.
Our heroine, Lærke (Josephine Park) is a workaholic deal-closer and detail-oriented re-designer for a big Danish hotel chain. Her boss (Paprika Steen) insists she go to Málaga, “get close to” the owner of this failed mango farm and get him to sell so that they can build on the property.
The boss’s biggest motivation? “I want a seat on the (corporation’s) board!”
That kills a planned vacation Lærke was to take with her neglected teen daughter Agnes (Josephine Højbjerg). As Agnes just failed to get into architecture school, she might as well come along and get something resembling a vacation out of it.
The owner of the scenic hilltop “mango plantation,” Alex (Dar Salim) is doggedly determined not to sell, debt be damned He has his reasons, and they might include his assistant, Paula (Sara Jiménez), who calls him “Bro” and is “family.”
Can Lærke please everyone? And if she can’t, guess who is destined to get the short end of the stick?
The “meet cute” happens on the jet from Copehagen to Málaga, a not-quite-funny bit of business involving the mother of a toddler who wants Lærke and her daughter to give up their window seats and a stranger who gives up his so that “both children” can be mollified.
The romantic leads are “rude” to each other at every opportunity. But “rude” by Danish standards.
The plantation’s shop and cantina features “mangolade,” “mangonade” and “mango vinegar,” amongst other products featuring their crop. Cute. Ish.
Park does a decent job of making Lærke a trained critic of all things “hospitality,” including “mangonade.” Salim’s Alex character barely registers, and the “girls” bonding scenes are perfunctory.
The funniest role is that of the imperious, vaping and demanding boss, whom we root against instinctively.
The dialogue — in Danish and Spanish with subtitles, or dubbed into English — doesn’t offer much zing.
Our director and screenwriter don’t show any flair for writing or executing comedy.
But the scenery is spectacular, and the fact that Lærke and Agnes — whose dad begs Lærke to “never let her drive” — traverse this landscape is a Mini Cooper had me pricing Mini rentals on the Costa del Sol.
So that’s something, anyway.
Rating: TV-MA, adult situations, profanity, smoking
Cast: Josephine Park, Dar Salim, Josephine Højbjerg, Paprika Steen and Sara Jiménez
Credits:Directed by Mehdi Amaz, scripted by Milad
Schwartz Amaz. A Netflix release.
Running time: 1:36

