EASY MONEY

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.

This time Kinnaman is cast as J.W.  a well turned out young business student and 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.

It’s all very bloody and violent and yet the whole thing 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’.

The main distinguishing difference about this book/movie from other similar ones is the underlying ethical dimensions of some 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.

An engrossing dynamic movie which I totally loved, and 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 


★★★★★★★★