Dear Wendy (2005)

Thomas Vinterberg demonstrates that he’s the latest Dane with a bone to pick with America in Dear Wendy (2005), a scathing satire about the U.S. of A’s love-hate relationship with guns. Following close on the heels of Lars von Trier’s anti-American screed Dogville (2004), Vinterberg’s film is set in a fictional frontier town, where a wimpy youth (Jamie Bell) is emboldened by a dime-store revolver. He conscripts a band of rabble-rousers, and together they espouse a pacifistic platform that’s full of violent contradictions. Vinterberg’s careful not to overlook America’s other fascination (yup, sex). Alison Pill stars as a mining-town sweetheart who’s willing to lift her garters for just the right cowboy.