Went way too long, too pretentious

Rating: 2/10 (4 October 2009)

Slow paced film, a wanna-be hybrid of Euro and American cinematography. The acting is believable to a certain extent and the motivation of the characters seems to be supported by the plot and their character development, with some exceptions. The female character is unlikely to be so savvy at her research abilities at such a young age. The build up of the "guardian" of the female character is flat and merely designed for the audience to hate him so that all feel relieved when "he gets what he deserves." No sense of relief for the viewer at that scene though, only disgust at the lowly and despicable scene of violence. The female is disproportionately and unbelievably powerful in solving the problems of the main protagonist - both intellectually and physically. Along those lines the movie follows the Hollywood trend of the last years "females rule" - smart, independent women in their early 20s, who fix the mishaps of sturdy, well framed, but somewhat stupid men, and who leave to the lady to get what she wants. The only difference is that the woman in the Swedish flick is not a PhD, but a rebel with a tattoo the size of her body. The plot does develop in a logical sequence and has some twist and turns. However, they come way too slow to keep you interested and on the edge of your seat. The story telling is OK with the exception of when the story moves to other, far-off locations. There is no transition or any scenes to show that the protagonist goes to a foreign country, for example. Unless you're a fanatical fan of the Euro "cinema" -- not worthy the long two and a half hours.