Jeff's Reviews

Thoughts on every movie I've ever seen.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

Directed by Niels Arden Oplev

Starring Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre, Sven-Bertil Taube

Author

Neatly told story, with just enough brutality and intensity to get you into it without turning you off.

Nyqvist’s performance was good, and Rapace is a strangely magnetic presence. Her determination, concentrated gaze, and boyish physicality reminded me of Franka Potente in Run Lola Run.

This version will never be successful in America because:

  1. It is in Swedish.
  2. It is too long.
  3. Blomkvist’s infidelity, a bold story choice for the hero, is a non-issue.
  4. There are no big stars.
  5. There is no one exceptionally good-looking in the movie. An American audience would never root for toad-faced, Larry Flynt-looking Michael Nyqvist as the hero. Anyone who looks like that in an American movie would admit ugliness, be self-conscious, and compensate with comedy.
  6. It’s good.

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