Starring Joel Kinnaman, Matias
Varela, Dragomir Mrsic, Lisa Henri, Mahmut Suvakci and Lea Stojanov. Swedish
with subtitles. 125 mins
Often when people get their first big Hollywood jobs, their
CVs and references only get to be inspected some time later. That Espinosa
directed last year’s Denzel Washington thriller Safe House while Kinnaman was
in the US remake of The Killing and will be the lead in the Robocop remake is
the reason we are getting to see this decently entertaining Swedish crime drama
from 2010.
Snabba Cash to give it its Swedish title is Hollywood slick
but much less frantic. It appreciates that taking the time to explore your
characters and allowing the audience to see the world through their eyes can be
as gripping as any car chase. This is not to suggest that it is ponderous; the
camera is rarely still and the soundtrack has few moments of quiet. The first
hour takes such pains to grip audiences with the reality of its world it’s a
shame some of that is frittered away with some melodramatic turns towards the
end.
The film follows the interconnecting paths of three
characters in the build up towards a major drug deal. Mrado (Mrsic) is an
enforcer for a Serbian gang whose 24/7 profession life is complicated by being
forced to look after his daughter; Jorge (Varela) is a Spanish criminal who
breaks out of prison in the first scene to organise the big cocaine shipment;
J.W, (Kinnaman) is a gifted but poor economics student who sees a chance to
become a part of the wealthy Stockholm elite when an Arab criminal asks him to
launder the profits of a cocaine business.
Erect, imposingly tall and with immaculately floppy hair,
Kinnaman’s J.W. is the epitome of a Merchant Ivory leading man. If he’d been
born in England 20 years earlier he could’ve spared Hugh Grant a heap of
tabloid grief. The film’s key scene is a meeting between J.W. and the
disdainful owner of a failing establishment bank. It’s two refined, well
dressed, white men in an office, an image of respectability but both know that
J.W. is a Trojan horse whose deal will leave this bastion of Nordic hierarchy
in the hand of Middle Eastern criminals. The banker is disgusted that a man who
looks like he could play Thor is fronting a barbarian invasion; but he still
makes a deal on the side to ensure that he’ll still be alright.