User Reviews

Easy Money is a reasonable foreign action flick.

I love Joel Kinnaman in "The Killing" and that's mainly why I gave this film a chance, but I don't think he really added much to it, being the main character. A lot of the time he was just there and the others around him gave the film life, Jorge and Sophie in particular. The plot was very good, even though I struggled a bit with the foreign dialogue and who was who. They needed to give JW more depth, with either a hell of a lot more lines or some monologue or narration, since he was often just standing there with blank looks. I also wanted more of Sophie, that interaction was pretty thin.

Imagine a two-hour long church sermon, the point of which is to convince you that getting into trafficking narcotics is going to make you thoroughly miserable. In a nutshell, that is what this movie is like.

It is visually stylish in places. It's watchable. If you have nothing better to do of an evening, and you find yourself in close proximity to a DVD of this movie, by all means go ahead and give it a shot. Judging from the other reviews apparently some people like it.

I, however, did not like this movie much at all.. Firstly the film makes the colossal mistake of trying to appear realistic, whilst blatantly not being. Other reviewers have attacked the plot as being the main issue in terms of lack of realism-- or the stereotyped portrayal of the various ethnic groups that are shown in the film. These issues aren't really what make this film so wholly unbelievable though. "University student gets involved with a bunch of drug-running gangsters..." Sure, it is perhaps a bit improbable, but stranger things have happened... And yes, the stereotyping is irritating, but there's nothing particularly implausible about it. No. The thing that makes this so flaming unrealistic is that there is barely a glimmer of humor. The characters are uniformly miserable. There's almost zero jesting. There's no monkeying around. It's just gloom, gloom, gloom all the way through. Okay guys-- we get it-- if you get involved with gangsters your life will become utterly miserable... The only thing I'm unsure about is whether the writer and director are actually living in such a well-insulated middle-class bubble that, in spite of having presumably done some research on the topic, they still think that this is what life is like for those involved in the criminal underworld.

Now, don't get me wrong-- I'm not insistent on realism in my gangster flicks. I love Tarantino, which has tendencies to be even more unrealistic (though in a totally different manner)... The problem here is that the film doesn't really have anything to make up for all this miserable sermonizing. I like the visual style... but none of the male characters really grab you. Actually by far my favorite character was the love-interest, Sophie... (And I don't think this was entirely a question of her being far more enjoyable to look at)... there was a sense of realism to her character, and roundedness, which the others lacked. Perhaps it's just that the director gave her the freedom to smile occasionally! However her role is pretty incidental to the plot, and she doesn't get all that much screen time-- so in the end we're mainly just left with a bunch of miserable blokes for the two hour slog...

Does story believability not count for anything for folks who gave this movie a 10? I left after the following things took place on screen: 1. Prior to a visit to a Swedish prison a visitor is seen putting stiletto-like knives in the bottom of his shoes. He gets into the prison, circa 2010 (which doesn't have metal detector machines) and then walks into a large exercise yard seemingly dressed like many of the prison inmates exercising. He makes contact with the convict he plans on helping escape, clumsily knocks over a single guard and then the two of them race to a tall metal fence adorned by razor wire on the top. (Perhaps the guards in the yard and in the towers were on a union-sanctioned break and weren't allowed to pursue the escapees since no one appeared to be chasing the two.) Not wounded by the razor wire the two escape and are not recaptured. 2. Later on in the movie the cab driver who was covertly following pursuer two, who in turn had caught the one main prison escapee, discovers the escapees semi-automatic handgun on a forest's floor. How did the gun get there? Was the owner not searched by the two men who were intent on beating him to death? Why didn't the cab driver pick the gun up? After these two inanities took place I decided to not watch anymore of what I found to be a confusing movie up till then to begin with. P.S. In reading about "Easy Money" I learned that this was the second movie in a planned trilogy. Perhaps the filmmakers should have had a synopsis precede the escape to help viewers like me understand what had happened before. Having said this though, the two story lapses still stand out as un-thought out mistakes.

The Book of Timothy teaches us that money is the root of all evil. "Easy Money" tells the story of three men who do evil things in the pursuit of money. Two, a Chilean prison escapee and a Serbian hit-man, have convinced themselves that it's all for the benefit of someone they love. The third, a Swedish economics student posing as a rich playboy, has no one to be selfless for and therefore doesn't delude himself into believing his is a noble cause. Although he understands the banking system and is a numbers whiz, he isn't smart enough to consider the consequences of his actions, which affect not only him but the people in his life. If only he had seen past his need to be someone he isn't; perhaps then, he wouldn't have been so easily lured into the dangerous world of organized crime.

Adapted from the novel by Jens Lapidus, the film was established as a critical and commercial success in its native Sweden back in January of 2010, and the first of two sequels is set to be released in that part of the world sometime this year. Will this first chapter fare as well here in the U.S., given the fact that importing Scandinavian crime thrillers has become fashionable? There's no way for me to answer that question. You should keep in mind, though, that Warner Bros. has already acquired the rights for an American remake and Zac Efron is set to star in and produce it; clearly, somebody out there thinks it's a pretty good film. All I know is that I found it to be quite engaging. I admit that it had more to do with the characters than with the plot, which is not only convoluted but also has a tendency to meander.

The central character is Johan Westlund, who goes by the nickname JW (Joel Kinnaman). He comes from the northern Norrland region of Sweden, which has consistently been portrayed in a less-than-favorable light in Scandinavian fiction, most prominently in Stieg Larsson's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." He was raised by working-class parents, one of whom is an alcoholic. His sister has been missing for four years, although he continues to hope that she's still alive. He currently attends the Stockholm School of Economics, all the while keeping his past hidden and convincing his rich circle of friends that he's actually one of them. He funds his lifestyle as best he can by illegally taxiing the wealthy patrons that frequent the high-end public square of Stureplan. After meeting an upper-class young woman named Sophie (Lisa Henni), he's enticed by his boss, Abdulkarim (Mahmut Suvakci), to enter the drug trade and earn some serious money.

As this is being established, we meet Jorge Salinas Barrio (Matias Padin Varela), who opens the film by escaping from prison (rather easily I thought, but never mind). An expert in the drug trade, his plan is twofold: (1) To have his revenge on the man who turned him over to the police, a Yugoslavian mob boss named Radovan Kranjic (Dejan Čukić); and (2) to make one final cocaine delivery before leaving the country for good. His alters his plans somewhat when he reunites with his sister, Paola (Annika Ryberg Whittembury), and discovers that she's pregnant. We're tempted to believe that the unborn baby is his one shot at redemption, especially when he states that he can help provide it with the kind of childhood he and Paola never had. Maybe he's being sincere, and maybe he isn't. All that matters is that his promises are hopelessly entwined with a profession that's dangerous and immoral.

We also meet Mrado Slovovic (Dragomir Mrsic), a hit-man who works for Radovan and has been hired to take care of Jorge. Quite suddenly, he gains custody of his eight-year-old daughter, Lovisa (Lea Stojanov), whose drug-addicted mother is no longer able to care for her. Although initially bothered by his new situation, he quickly grows attached to Lovisa and promises to right by her – or, at the very least, do better than his father did for him, which wasn't much. It's summed up with his account of a childhood beating so severe, he peed blood for three days straight. As was the case with Jorge, his good intentions are overshadowed by his unsavory affiliations. Giving his daughter a better life isn't simply a matter of earning money and somehow buying her protection; he should never have gotten involved with the mafia in the first place.

Abdulkarim needs JW's social connections and financial skills to purchase a floundering small-investment bank, which can then be used to launder money for a cocaine syndicate. This is where Jorge comes in; his knowledge of cocaine will be invaluable for expanding Abdulkarim's business. As for Mrado, he eventually convinces JW that in this business, friends are liable to stab you in the back. In other words, JW shouldn't get his hopes up that he will get the money he was promised in a timely manner. All leads to a shootout in a conveniently deserted warehouse, and in all honesty, I expected nothing less. Although the plot and ultimate message of "Easy Money" aren't especially original, I appreciated the character development, the performances, and the suspense. Here's hoping that at least that much is retained for the English-language reboot.

-- Chris Pandolfi (www.atatheaternearyou.net)

Original scandinavian drama thiller movie about mostly selfish people in search for easy money. Characters develop through the movie and some characters are starting to care about others, like family, child and friend(s). Different story line from American action movies. Film is entertaining.

Spoiler alert: Unfortunately the end of the movie is poor. Two main characters escape from the drugs deal gone bad. JW gets caught by the police with a smoking gun. He did not really flight or fight which is hard to follow. Why did he have to get caught? Just to show the audience crime does not bring a person further?

Film starts out pretty good. There is sharp tension between the ethnic Swedes and the immigrant communities. Interesting material, I thought. The movie depict well how extended families are important for the southern European gangsters and how that safety is not available to the ethnic Swedes. After having started great, after one hour the movie starts to sag. It turns into some kind of traditional politically correct production. It is as if the director had second thoughts. After having shown the immigrants to be pretty pathetic individuals, the director feels an urge to show that they are human beings after all. This is done by having the foreign gangsters have little girls and buy dolls and baby clothing. So pathetic. By now the film is really not worth watching. The story of the ethnic Swede studying economics and then just going into heavy crime is just not believable. I started out out thinking that this is a 7 movie after 15 minutes, but then my verdict gradually went down all the way to 1. This is just a waste of time.

"Waste of time 1/10 Author: Mats from United Kingdom 4 December 2012

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Film starts out pretty good. There is sharp tension between the ethnic Swedes and the immigrant communities. Interesting material, I thought. The movie depict well how extended families are important for the southern European gangsters and how that safety is not available to the ethnic Swedes. After having started great, after one hour the movie starts to sag. It turns into some kind of traditional politically correct production. It is as if the director had second thoughts. After having shown the immigrants to be pretty pathetic individuals, the director feels an urge to show that they are human beings after all. This is done by having the foreign gangsters have little girls and buy dolls and baby clothing. So pathetic. By now the film is really not worth watching. The story of the ethnic Swede studying economics and then just going into heavy crime is just not believable. I started out out thinking that this is a 7 movie after 15 minutes, but then my verdict gradually went down all the way to 1. This is just a waste of time."

This movie has very little to do with ethnicity, rather it has to do with class I'd say. Every criminal extended family has a natural protective side against outsiders regardless of which ethnical group the outsiders belong to and regardless if the family consists of Arabs, Swedes, Serbs or is a mix of everything or is called Hells Angels or Bandidos. You don't even have to belong to a criminal family for that matter, as even upper class people are very protective against "outsiders" that they don't consider worthy. After all, in the story JW has a troubled working class background where the father was an alcoholic and has a sister that's been missing for years. He strives and shares the same goals and beliefs with his gangster friends for a life in de luxe by making easy money - in despite of different ethnical backgrounds, which the movie shows plays a very little role when money talks and when even the people within the Serbian mafia don't't trust each other and stab each other's backs. JW and his gangster friends have more in common in their respective working class backgrounds and that they want to change their lives and give it a meaning and to become something they're not, than they have with their own people sharing their ethnical backrounds respectively. That's also what's so great about this movie! It makes you think about how similar class conditions and life backgrounds can have a larger impact on you than you could ever imagine.