In the tragicomedy of his life, Nikander (Matti Pellonpää), ex-butcher, now garbageman, is something unlikely on the screen: a human being. In the urban indifference, Nikander merely exists, until he meets Ilona (Kati Outinen), a bounced supermarket checker; then they merely exist together. Their dates in bingo halls are profoundly unsatisfying, their emotions brief and incoherent. (“I thought you were a local.” “No.” “Where from?” “Down the street.”) Ilona steals the supermarket cash box and would run off to Florida, but misses her plane; Nikander is invited into business with a fellow who dies of a heart attack on the spot. In short, they were made for each other. So we experience a tension commensurate with the small scale of this funny and moving film: will Nikander lose everything, again? Kaurismäki works subtly to develop our empathy amid the black comedy, so that Nikander and Ilona might emerge from the shadows as heroes, and not just victims.