The Drop

First Hit:  I liked the developing twist of who really was in-charge of the neighborhood scene.

It isn’t easy to play the guy who appears to be a little slow of mind on the outside while really taking stock of everything and making sure it all works out for the best.

Tom Hardy plays Bob the bartender to his uncle’s bar. Although Cousin Marv (James Gandolfini) manages the bar he once owned, he sold it to some Chechnya tough guys who use the bar as a money drop for illicit activities.

Bob is quite, responds to situations in a measured way and isn’t rattled by threats. He happens upon a beaten and cut dog in a trash can and decides to rescue it. The trash can resides on Nadia’s (Noomi Rapace) property. Slowly they become friends around caring for the dog.

As Marv believes he can scam the new owners for one last large big score, he knows Bob will attempt to keep things on par and do what he has to do to keep clarity with a sense of purpose. Brooklyn, thugs, and a closed tight neighborhood are also stars of this film.

Some of the shots of the neighborhood and the interaction and closeness of bar patrons in “their bar” are sublime.

Hardy is brilliant. It isn’t easy to play the type of character this film calls for, while not giving away the actor's intelligence. Hardy does it in spades and makes this one of the very best performances  I’ve ever seen him give. Gandolfini was difficult to watch. The way he smoked his cigarettes belied a man who was sucking smoke to ease the hassle of living not only as a man but as the character. Life and art being one here. Although he did a good job with this character, I couldn’t help but watch him slowly dig his own grave through his unhappiness. Rapace was sublime. Her vulnerability, strength and action based on fear were perfect for the role. Dennis Lehane wrote a very strong screenplay. The direction by Michael R. Roskam for this story was very good and I liked how the brooding mood was consistently felt throughout the film.

Overall:  It was well acted and strong film.

Passion

First Hit:  Poorly acted, mindlessly conceived, torturous, and a waste of time.

As a take off on a better acted “Love Crime” with Kristin Scott Thomas and Ludivine Sagnier, there are many films about protégés and assistants transforming into their bosses and then turning the tides on them. What would make this one different?

Here Christine (Rachel McAdams) as a high level executive just didn’t work. She wasn’t believable in her role in any way shape for form. The way she talked about budgets and demanding certain work be done in a short period time was more of a laugh than anything else. There is no way her threat to do their work for them was believable.

The conflict in the story is that she takes credit for Isabelle’s (Noomi Rapace) work and then humiliates her in front of the whole staff. The extra wrinkle in this film is that Isabelle’s assistant Dani (played by Karoline Herfurth) is in love with Isabelle and does what she can to help her get through the problems and eventual murder of Christine.

The story adds a male wrinkle by having Dirk (Paul Anderson), who works for Isabelle as well, being blackmailed by Isabelle for stealing money from the company. Her payment is his availability to her for sexual reasons.

This film becomes more torturous because there is a supposed twin of Isabelle’s, who is dead, non-existent or out to seek revenge.

McAdams was totally unbelievable as a senior executive; however she was great as someone who can work an audience. Rapace did what she can in her role but I’m not sure it was one that fit her. Herfurth was the best of the bunch and felt her engaged in this role. Anderson was simply drama and not interesting in this role. Brian De Palma and Natalie Carter wrote the script. I couldn’t tell whether it was a poor script or bad acting or directing that made this film almost unwatchable. De Palma directed this film and needless to say it was no “Scarface” or “Carrie”.

Overall:  Almost unwatchable and wouldn’t suggest anyone trying.

Dead Man Down

First Hit:  I was pleasantly surprised that the story was different than I thought it would be – it was about revenge and maybe revenge not being the; be all end all.

Alphonse (Terrence Howard) is having his organization being picked apart, person by person. He’s being sent clues of small square sections of a larger picture.

The picture shows who's doing the killing. Part of his crew of people, who take over buildings and get rid of people who try to hang on in the building, is Victor (Colin Farrell). The crew forces people out of buildings and re-rents them for higher rent.

Although Victor seems engaged with the group, he has other things going on but has gained Alphonse’s trust. From his apartment he can view another section of the building that has a resident to whom we waves at from time to time.

This resident (Beatrice played by Noomi Rapace) convinces him to go out with her one evening and she tells him she wants him to kill the guy who drove into her car which caused massive facial scars. She wants revenge. But why would he do this? She has a film of Victor killing someone and is it using blackmail.

As the film unfolds we learn more about Victor and why he’s doing what he’s doing and his ultimate plan.

Farrell is, as usual, very strong as the troubled, focused man and here he wants revenge. Howard is very good as the frightened but powerful leader of a bunch of thugs. Rapace is phenomenal as the damaged woman who slowly is letting herself care. I loved how the subtle movements in her face brought forth such a plethora of feelings and emotions. Dominic Cooper was strong as Farrell’s thug friend. Isabelle Huppert was wonderful as Valentine, Rapace’s mother.

Overall: Being pleasantly surprised was good and overall the film delivered a satisfying result.

Prometheus 3-D

First Hit:  Interesting concept, startling visuals, and a fairly good story but in the end not quite a great film.

I wanted to really love this film. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good space oriented science fiction.

Given the previews and cast, I had hopes for this Ridley Scott offering. Hope emerged at the beginning with the archeological finds but soon it started a long slow fall. It was easy to link David (the android played by Michael Fassbender) to be a cross between "Data", "Spock", and "HAL" the computer.

Elizabeth Shaw (played by Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (played by Logan Marshall-Green) discover a link of cave picture drawings that were dated thousands of years apart and painted by different civilizations. The drawings made them believe that humans were created by some other race that lived somewhere in space.

This leap of faith, sort of speak, wasn’t developed enough to have me come to the same conclusion, but I went with it. The long ride to the solar system where they believe the “Engineers” reside was on a great looking rocket.

All the crew including the scientists were put to sleep for over 2 years until they arrived at their location. The only one awake on the ship was David. The leader of the expedition was Meredith Vickers (played by Charlize Theron.

As expected, there is conflict on this ship because of differing agendas, and the question was; will they pull together when they meet their makers or the alien creatures? The highlights were the attention to detail in the alien planet, the cave, the space ships, Elizabeth’s surgery, and the visuals used to provide information to the crew.

The downsides include the long waits between interesting scenes, the lack of continuity and development of the story, and a redo of alien monsters that climb into people’s mouths to cause havoc (I would have wanted something new).

Rapace is very good uses her intelligence, even temperament and her athletic body to portray an interesting character. Fassbender is strong as an android even when he was just a talking head (see the film and you'll see what I mean). Theron is very strong as the conservative tough mission commander. Marshall-Green was mediocre as the other scientist. Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof wrote a script needing additional clarification and development. Scott directed some sequences with eloquence while others seem to lag and drag.

Overall: This film is nice in 3-D but overall it just didn’t carry the day and was mostly forgotten the following day.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (Lofslottet som sprangdes)

First Hit: A good ending to a trilogy which I fully enjoyed.

The film begins with providing some scenes from the previous film which has Lisbeth (played by Noomi Rapace) being shot, buried, digging herself out, taking an ax to her father Alexander Zalachenko (played by Georgi Staykov), and being flown to the hospital. Both she and her father are in the hospital with the wounds they inflicted on each other.

Because her father was a spy from Russia the government had given him and a small band of others enough tools to execute covert actions in Sweden generally through force. Afraid that Lisbeth and her Alexander would expose this secret group, one of the older men of the group goes to the hospital to kill them both. He succeeds in killing only the father.

Mikael Blomkvist (played by Michael Nyqvist) who has been Lisbeth’s friend through all three films is doing what he can to assist her for her upcoming trial. They try to prove her as insane because of her past actions and because she was sent to a mental hospital when she was young, but Mikael, working through his sister and lawyer Annika (played by Annika Giannini), are able to obtain evidence that Lisbeth has been set up from the beginning. She gains her freedom.

This film lacks the kind of action thriller scenes that the others had, however it ties the whole series together nicely.

Rapace is fantastic. I love how powerful she is on the screen each time the camera is on her. She holds character very well and when you see her give a slight smile you know the depth of her pain and joy. Nyqvist is wonderful as the magazine reporter who cares deeply about Lisbeth as both friend and one time lover. Giannini is good as Lisbeth’s lawyer and with being pregnant, smart, and focused she gains Lisbeth’s confidence. Lena Endre reprises her role as Blomkvist’s business partner and part time lover. She is effective. Ulf Ryberg accurately wrote the script from Steig Larsson’s book of the same title. Daniel Alfredson’s direction was very good and he did a great job of keeping all three films with the same look and feel making them easy to move from one to the other.

Overall: This was a wonderful end piece to this trilogy of films. It didn’t rely on action but intellectual suspense.