Never heard about this movie before so it was a random pick and I have to admit that this was a huge suprise. The story kept me interested throughout the hole movie. The writing and acting was great.
"If you don't gamble, you don't win."
Wow that was such an entertaining ride. I had no idea what this film was about and turns out it's about an art thief and things get complicated. The cinematography is also beautiful.
Tonally this film seems all over the place as the first half of the film builds up an atmospheric sense of mystery and paranoia, but as the lead character's life begins to unravel, the film veers from thriller to comedy and action to slapstick and back again. Never less than entertaining though, with the two male leads clearly enjoying themselves and bringing the audience along with them for the ride. There are many plotholes if you start to think about it, and the resolution to the film is a little too neat but it's still a worthwhile film to watch.
great original movie!
I was due for a re-watch of this film, having originally seen it about 8 years ago. It was one of the first foreign films that really impressed me and definitely helped open my eyes to the wider world of cinema. As such, I had kind of put it on a pedestal in my mind, so I was a bit worried about how it would hold up on a re-watch. Luckily, my original assessment was 100% accurate, this film is great! Aksel Hennie's central performance is excellent, absolutely nailing this unconventional lead role. In fact, none of the cast disappoints, with Hennie's wife and Jaime Lannister both standing out as well. Beyond that, the story is clever and well executed, keeping the audience on their toes with plenty of twists and turns that all feel earned. The movie really subscribes to the writing advice of putting your protagonist through a meat grinder of misfortune, and Hennie sells the extreme emotion that you would expect in this kind of wild scenario. The action and set pieces are visually impressive and the effects all hold up. The film also manages to balance the intense thriller plot with elements of dark humor throughout. All in all, a brilliant Norwegian film that can go toe to toe with anything that Hollywood can produce.
7.5 / 10: black comedy masquerading as other genres, ultimately in a very uneven way.
8,5/10 European cinematography is just perfect i cant believe i hadnt checked this film for so long
It has been a long time since I've rated a movie 9/10 here and this movie was absolutely worth it.
The acting by Aksel Hennie and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was amazing.
Wonderful plot.
IMHO, Morten Tyldum's best work so far.
This thing is over the place, I had a really hard time grasping its tone. It can be cheesy, it can be campy, it can be completely grounded. There’s some quirky, Guy Ritchie-esque narration and dialogue in here, but then there are portions where any form of eccentricity completely disappears. It’s a crime movie, it’s an action movie, it’s a black comedy, it’s a relationship drama, it’s a grindhouse exploitation movie; it seemingly wants to do everything and I was very confused by the end of it. Imagine the abrupt tonal shift halfway through From Dusk Til Dawn happening every other scene, and you’re close to what this movie is. It’s memorable because it’s so wild, but at the core it’s hard to argue this is any good. It has all the markings of a future cult classic in that regard. The characters, dialogue, cinematography, acting or story aren’t even particularly remarkable in any way. I quite liked the score though, the strings got appropriately zany when needed.
4/10
It has the usual lack of verisimilitude of Jo Nesbø novels, but there is some remarkable directing that makes stupid action sequences feel believable. As a character study it doesn't add much, but Nikolaj Coster-Waldau manages to create a beautiful villain that would take him to Hollywood. And it has some typically Norwegian moments of humor that end up being charming. A series based on the same novel has just been released in Norway.
Interesting, plenty of dark humour, and we'll told.
I was rooting for the "bad guy" the entire time, probably because the "good guy" was a rich thief/douchebag/Napoleon complex dickhead. The story was interesting though and the directing was good enough to keep it going
An enjoyable film with some funny moments but that's about it. Worth checking out once yes, a must watch..not really.
Shout by RedouaneBlockedParent2013-06-17T17:16:27Z
HOLY SHIT! an superb thriller, excellent writing by Jo Nesbo!