The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)

Directed by: David Fincher
Written by: Steven Zaillian
Based on book by: Stieg Larsson

Before the turn of the Millineum, let’s see some previews.

CONTRABAND–Mark Wahlberg has had a pretty interesting career. It’s a little hard to understand sometimes, actually. He’s gone from silly white rapper to silly b-movie actor to pretty well-respected actor all within about 15-20 years. He’s still doing some great stuff (The Departed will always stand as one of his best films), but sometime he chooses to just do a fun little action flick like Shooter…or Contraband. Could this one be that fun? Kinda looks like it. I’ll check it out.

THE IRON LADY–I’ve never been a fan of Margaret Thatcher, but I am a fan of Meryl Streep. (Who isn’t?) And I’m pretty interested in the story of this important figure in British (and world) history, no matter how I felt about her politics. Although, this was directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!). Not too enthused by that. Watch for everyone’s favorite librarian (Anthony Head) throughout the preview.

21 JUMP STREET–Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum may get some butts in seats, but this looks pretty awful. A retread of an 80s series that is basically a footnote in the career of Johnny Depp doesn’t sound particularly interesting to me. Probably give this one a miss unless I start hearing good things…but I doubt it.

Ok. Let’s check out that tat.

When Stieg Larsson’s book about a couple of investigative reporters getting caught up in a 40 year old murder mystery suddenly became a surprise international bestseller, it was really only a matter of time before Hollywood put it onscreen. It didn’t make it before the Swedes got to their countryman’s work first, putting all three of the books in the series up before anyone else could even breath on them.

Good for them, I say. I’ve only seen the first film in the Swedish series (and I haven’t read any of the books), but it is very good.

How does the American version stack up? Well, let me tell you something about what you’re about to read a review of first.

Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is on the edge of being out of a job. He’s just exposed a multi-millionaire as a crook, but the rich guy got the drop on him. He sued Mikael for libel and now it’s a national affair.

To blow off some steam and get out of the line of fire, Mikael decides to take a job as a sort of historian for Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). Vanger and his family are among the richest people in Sweden. Rich enough to basically own their own island. But there’s a cut that has never healed. Henrik’s niece, Harriet, disappeared when she was in her teens and is believed to have been murdered. Henrik wants Mikael to find out what really happened. He and his brother, Martin (Stellan Skarsgard) are on one side while the rest of the family seems to be on the other…of course, one of them is a “former” Nazi.

This is truly one fucked up family.

Meanwhile, Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) is fighting for more than just her job. She’s a bit of a rebel. In fact, she’s just about the most punk rock character I’ve seen on screen since Sid Vicious. She’s not particularly likeable, but you can’t help but pull for her. She’s a bit of a genius, but that doesn’t always help her get out of situations where she’s forced to give a fat man a blowjob so that she can get some cash out of her own account. (She’s a ward of the state at 23 because the state found her incompetent at a very early age.)

She ends up working the case with Mikael. Chaos and death ensue.

None of this really even hint at the darkness that Mikael and Lisbeth uncover in their investigations. This is by no means a happy story. It’s dark, dark, dark and no one but David Fincher could bring it to the screen. He’s become fairly subdued since Fight Club, but he’s still always on the edge of madness and it works perfectly with this story. Between that and the score by Trent Reznor (watch for a reference to his band that’s pretty hard to miss), this is a pretty note-perfect adaptation of a book that I now want to read.

Of course, none of it would be possible without the right Lisbeth. After a casting call that rivaled the call for Scarlet O’Hara (ok, maybe not, but close) and having the originator of the role, Noomi Rapace, turn down playing her again, Fincher and the studio finally decided on Rooney Mara, the show-stealer of the first scene of The Social Network. They made the perfect decision. Rooney is fucking amazing and does things that (actually did) make a grown man cry. If she’s not up for every major award this year, I’m not sure what I’ll do. I know what she’ll do, though. It’ll involve a stun gun and a very large dildo.

There’s nothing pleasant about this movie. It’s not for the squeamish. It’s for hardcore film people and people who love a really good story. As with just about any David Fincher film, it’s not for everyone. But it is a great film that, if you can handle it, will reward you.

One last thing: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING, TAKING YOUR CHILD TO THIS MOVIE?!?! I can’t believe that a small family walked past me to get to their seats before the movie started! The little boy couldn’t have been more than 7…probably younger. You know, maybe you should see the movie first! It’s not that there’s sex in the film because, really, small children don’t care about that. It’s the fact that there’s sexual fucking violence! THAT will scar a kid!

Wow. Parents. Just don’t even know what to say.