Easy Money 3: Life Deluxe.

In the final part of the Snabba cash trilogy based on Jens Lapidus’s novels we find Johan ‘JW’ Westland (Joel Kinnaman whose latest film Child 44 is on general release) in Los Angeles trying to discover how his missing sister died, with Jorge Salinas Barrio (Matias Varela) determined to carry out one last very high value hoist so he can build a hotel on the sun kissed coast of Mexico and retire to a life of luxury with Nadja (Madeline Martin) his girlfriend.  Making a far greater impression than in the first two films, we see an awful lot more of the vicious Mafia gangster and suspected Serbian war criminal Radovan Kroynec (Dejan Cukic), but unbeknown to him the police have infiltrated his criminal organisation via a young recruit Martin Hagerstrom (Martin Wallstrom) who against all the odds falls in love with Radovan’s sinisterly attractive daughter Natalie (Malin Buska).

 

Plenty of action....

....plus a rather sinister lady.

In Easy Money 3: Life Deluxe (2013) we find yet another director in the chair, this time its Jen Jonsson who was responsible for the story and the screenplay. Although this final part is more exciting than Easy Money 2: Hard to Kill (2012) and does have some very good action packed sequences there always appears to be to much going on, giving the viewer a very complicated narrative to digest, that at times is hard to follow. So much so that the films jumps backwards and forwards between timespans to help explain the ‘whys and wherefores’ of each situation which in my opinion is cheap story telling or just maybe the director is not doing a good enough job. To sum up the trilogy the first part, Easy Money (2010) is certainly the best of the three movies and indeed is the one you should not miss. 

The End.

Easy Money 2: Hard to Kill.

This second film in Swedish franchise based on Jens Lapidus’s novels Snabba cash has a very penultimate feel, seemingly dedicating itself to setting up the third film in the series. Easy Money 2: Hard to Kill (2012) is a follow up to Easy Money released in 2010. This time we have Babak Najafi at the helm instead of Daniel Espinosa but the story continues basically from where the previous movie finished. We now find Johan ‘JW’ Westland sharing a cell in the State Prison with Mrado Slovovic. Mrado, following the shooting at the end of the previous film, is now confined to a wheel chair but surprisingly both men are getting on really well! When JW is on release from prison to help him adapt ready for his permanent release he decides not to go back and instead arranges an escape plan for his crippled cellmate. Meanwhile the man with nine lives Jorge Salinas Barrio, who is also on the run from prison, sets up a drug deal to end all drug deals and Mahmud owes a large sum of money to the Serbian Mafia and must pay it back on the threat of his life.

Another cracking yarn where we again observe Stockholm’s sinister underworld and its racial tensions. The cast has not changed with Joel Kinnaman as JW, Matias Varela as Jorge, Dragomir Mrsic as Mrado and the Lebanese born actor Fares Fares as Mahmud.  Maybe not quite as exciting as the previous outing but certainly gives you an appetite for Easy Money 3: Life Deluxe.        

Man Tanker Sitt (Burrowing).

“The greater part of what my neighbours call good I believe in my soul to be bad, and if I repent of anything it is very likely to be my good behaviour”[1]

Sebastian lives at home with his mother. He is eleven years old. From an elevated spot in the playground he surveys his neighbourhood. He can see Jimmy who lives with his parents, even though he’s got a child of his own. He can see Anders, who’s just been given planning permission for a new carport. In a hollow where the surface water blends into the brook Mischa is looking for fish. He came as a guest worker in the 70's but still hasn’t left.[2] The curious Sebastian is also our narrator and manages to spout words well beyond his years!  

The word that came to mind while watching this movie Man Tanker Sitt (2009) was strange! Its weird camera work and lighting complements its haunting soundtrack and the many silences that occur, which in turn offsets the bizarre behaviour from the complicated people that live in close proximity to each other.   

Henrik Helstrom and Fredrik Wenzel who also jointly wrote the screenplay directed this somewhat odd movie. It’s UK premier was at the London Film Festival in 2009 but did not get a general release, which to be honest I’m not really surprised. Filmed on location Falkenberg, Halland County, Sweden your never sure where this dreamy, very contained, arthouse drama is heading or what’s going to happen. Strictly for admirers of Terrence Malick and Ingmar Bergman, if you’re looking for something a bit lively or exciting give this a miss.

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[1] H.D. Thoreau 1854.

[2] The Swedish Film Database.

Tommy (2014).

Before Tommy himself returns from exile Estelle and her daughter return to Stockholm to organise his share of one of Sweden’s biggest robberies. The news that Tommy is to return after his 12-month sabbatical puts fear into his underworld co-conspirators. Things have changed in a year, people have been killed, the proceeds of the robbery have disappeared, and his chief lieutenant Bobby has now taken over his crime syndicate.  

 

Will Estelle soothe the way for Tommy to pick up his cash?

Estelle and her sister attract crime boss Bobby. 

Estelle has friends or does she?

With a well-written script and an intriguing story line it’s a Swedish crime thriller from the female prospective with barely a police officer in sight. Directed by Egyptian born Tarik Saleh and written by Anton Hagwall it is the sort of thriller that you suspect from the very first frame is not going to end well. The film stars Ola Repace as Bobby, who you know doubt are aware was married to Lisbeth Salander her self Noomi Repace for ten years from 2001. He also played opposite Daniel Craig in Skyfall (2012) and had a prominent part in the first TV series of Wallander. Estelle is played by the very alluring Swedish actress Moa Gammel and Indie musician Lykke Li Zackrisson appears in her debut feature film as Estelle sister Bianca. Definitely does not let the genre down and will appeal to fans of Scandinavian crime fiction.

http://youtu.be/bByCu9Rs2rI Trailer.

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.

The retirement home is arranging a birthday party for Allan Karlsson, who has reached the grand age of 100! Even a very large birthday cake with the correct amount of candles can’t really raise Allan’s enthusiasm for a celebration. So this grand old centenarian climbs out his window and makes his escape, accidentally taking another mans suitcase with him on a bus journey to a nearby village. He befriends the ex stationmaster and the pair discover that the suitcase contains a very large amount of drug money. This discovery sets in motion an adventure that involves the police, a dangerous biker gang, a mature student and an elephant along with its female keeper! During this journey we also learn, using flashbacks and a voice over narration, that Allen is an explosives expert and throughout his eventful life has been involved in some of the most important events of the 20^th century and has meet many of the powerful players in these events including Truman, Stalin, Franco and Einstein. 

 

The mature student, the ex stationmaster and the 100 year old man.

This best selling debut novel by Jonas Jonasson condenses into a very engaging and quirky Swedish farce. The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013) is directed by Stockholm born Felix Herngren and stars 50 year old Robert Gustafsson a very well known Swedish comedian and one of the main stays of a comedy group called ‘Killingganet’. According to many UK film critics this movie is not a laugh out load funny, well someone should have told last nights audience at the Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre because the laughter was at time’s drowning out dialog, thankfully we had subtitles for most of the movie! It brings to mind the similar humour found in the Icelandic movie Bjarnfredarson (2009) and the gory black humour of the Jo Nesbo penned Jackpot (2011) both of which, and along with this latest film, I found extremely entertaining.

An elephant being feed by the 100 year old man!