Although I no longer watch any TV programs at all, even I know
that ‘The Killing’ has been a hit
series on both sides of the Atlantic.
Although naturally the US were not content with Danish original so they
shot an American version. Into this they
cast Joel Kinnaman as a sullen
scruffy Detective, and his success has helped finally trigger the
release of Daniel Espinosa’s ‘Easy Money’
made in 2010. (Swedish/Chilean film-maker
Espinosa’s latest movie ‘Safe House’ has already been and gone.
a part time cab-driver in Stockholm who helps drug dealers launder their money
to finance the upscale social life he so desperately aspires too. From the very confusing opening sequence,
this taut and tense thriller with its intensely complicated plot has you
sitting on the very edge of your seat for the entire 2 hours. That is once you make sense of what actually
is going on and can differentiate between all the different factions of
baddies.
J.W. is the reluctant criminal with both a big heart
and a conscience, and he only steps up his involvement with the drug smuggling
thugs when he meets and falls for Sophie a beautiful wealthy socialite who he
feels he desperately needs to impress. The
plot also follows the personal stories of two other main characters Jorge and
Mrado who are part of competing criminal gangs, but they both have far more at
stake in the success of the operation than J.W.
is so brilliantly executed (forgive the pun!) and it shows, just like the movies
based on Stieg Larson’s ‘Millennium Trilogy’. that the Swedes really excel at this
genre. This particular one is penned from the first
book of criminal defense lawyer Jens Lepidus’s
best selling ‘The
Stockholm Noir Trilogy’.
of the crooks ‘trying to do good through their own ethic’. Especially the rather naïve J.W. who tries to
do ‘the right thing’ when push comes to shove in the very exciting climatic scenes but he comes unstuck and ends up losing most of his fellow gang-members and his
freedom. He does however have the last
word and proves that when it comes to matters of the heart he is a real
gentleman anyway.
would particulary highlight the extremely talented (and not totally unattractive
!!!) Mr Kinnaman’s performance.
P.S. Movie Triva. I love the literally translation to Swedish of Easy Money which is ‘Snabba Cash’. They are already making a movie from the 2nd Book titled ‘Aldrig Fucka Upp’ which translates into ‘Never Fuck Up’. Hmmmm
★★★★★★★★
