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Snabba CashEasy Money 2009 | 124 min | R | 2.39:1
“Easy Money” separates itself from the crime picture competition with its attention to the nuance of character, not the spellbinding flashes of illegal activity. It’s a raw effort, using a Euro financial crisis atmosphere to engineer a new form of troublemaking, though there’s nothing here that snowballs into a light caper. Instead, “Easy Money” is dark and emotionally textured, keeping the patient rewarded with a genuine depiction of bothered souls caught between dreams of responsibility and the danger of survival. It’s not a film of predictability or resolution, but grit, with director Daniel Espinosa (last winter’s “Safe House”) finding a fascinating tone of helplessness to forcefully slice through the expected tough guy attitude. 
JW (Joel Kinnaman, star of the upcoming “RoboCop” remake) is a student at the Stockholm School of Economics, striving to sell himself as a man of financial might to impress friends and potential business partners, while madly scraping a living together as a cab driver. Finding himself immersed in an organized crime outfit that requires a special favor, JW saves Jorge (Matias Padin Varela) from certain doom at the hands of the Yugoslavian mafia, befriending the escaped convict, building trust with the twitchy man, whose skill with the cocaine trade makes him a valuable asset. Sent into the fray is Mrado (Dragomir Mrsic), a hitman out to retrieve Jorge, also dealing with the presence of his 8-year-old daughter, Lovisa (Lea Stojanov), which comes to cloud his focus. Out facilitate a major drug delivery with his business school acumen, JW comes to understand the price of his criminal ways, threatening to destroy the fraudulent life he’s built that’s inching closer to a reality. Adapted from the 2006 novel by Jens Lapidus, the Swedish thriller “Easy Money” retains the feel of a heated page-turner, with screenwriter Maria Karlsson preserving a winding sensation of bad decisions and dead ends for the players. The screenwriting is actually quite skilled at times, generating a propulsive feel for exposition and personality, gifting Espinosa speed and clarity with a twisted tale of revenge, highlighting multiple motivations and a street-smart knowledge of Stockholm lowlifes. A few of the cultural references remain on the obscure side, but the depictions of conflict and concern remain sharply defined, pulling the audience into the struggles of these men without a moment of hesitation. 
Instead of chasing routine with JW’s growth into a connected man, “Easy Money” eschews an arc of power to play up the desperation of a student who wants to be considered a man of status. Ashamed of his working-class parents and haunted by the disappearance of his sister, JW hopes to escape via wealth, inflating his lifestyle through social connections and a studious fashion sense, while funding his efforts writing term papers for fellow students and hustling as a cab driver. Living in a tiny dorm, JW dreams of a better life, playing a fictional role that leads him to love with Sophie (Lisa Henni), a woman baffled by the shifting accuracy of her boyfriend’s past. The complications extend to Jorge, who plans a final cocaine scheme to help fund his escape, only to be haunted by a fragile relationship with his sister, who projects her frustrations with family onto her brother, leaving him shaken. Mrado is equally rattled, forced to deal with parenting demands while sorting out the hunt for Jorge, with numerous scenes devoted to observing the brute balance the needs of his child with the severity and time commitment of his professional life. The beauty of “Easy Money” is how deeply these men are understood without slowing the pace of the feature. These are sturdy characterizations, each with an authenticity of behavior and contemplation, keeping the story engrossing without resorting to tired exchanges of violence and intimidation. Not that “Easy Money” is a Disney production, but the finest scenes of the picture typically involve a profound understanding of deliberation, not acts of coercion. 
“Easy Money” successfully mines contemporary woes (JW fast-talks a fallen bank into his scheme, proving that crooks do indeed run the industry) to flavor the planning stages, and thankfully avoids a tired rise-and-fall arc for JW, who is rarely allowed to sip the sweet life he’s hopelessly fixated on. The ending of “Easy Money” is a touch on the blunt side, though a sequel is about to enter European release later this summer, hopefully hungry enough to provide answers to a few important questions. Despite some loose ends, the movie is an intense journey, with a searing sense of human impact and desperation, helping to widen narrow genre elements. Starring: Joel Kinnaman, Dragomir Mrsic, Lisa Henni, Matias Varela, Fares Fares Director: Daniel Espinosa » See full cast & crew |
 
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