From Sweden, a comedy-charged innocent-man-on-the-run number, more THE FUGITIVE/’93 than Hitchcock homage. And, for a change, avoiding the usual problem of having suspense elements flatten out under the lighter tone, and the funny stuff fizzle without real threat to buttress the gags. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s not only more suspense in straight renderings, but usually more intentional laughs. But director Jon Holmberg, who co-wrote with Tapio Leopold, makes the tone look inevitable once he finds the right slightly heightened level of play (give yourself a reel to adjust), overcoming a jittery camera style that keeps falling off the beat. He soon settles down with his own deeply funny fatalistic attitude, loading in suspense as home electronics salesman Filip Berg barely notices a murder going on behind him. He’s busy installing a new tv monitor before he's knocked unconscious by the mystery killer. So when the man's wife comes home and finds Berg holding a bloody screwdriver next to her dead husband, he’s quickly picked up by the police and railroaded into an 18-yr prison sentence for murder. Some of the details seem like circumstantial setup to land him in jail; and they are. As plot revelations will explain as we go along. Smart and funny, with well structured plot-twists, it’s just believable enough to maximize enjoyment. Filip Berg is super as the innocent man who finds a tunnel out (and in) to the prison laundry room, and adds on a lively helper in Amy Deasismont’s junior police officer/electronics customer. A real find; pretty, with about twenty extra pounds Hollywood would never put up with. (The dopes.) The main villain, top cop at the station, along with Berg’s court-appointed attorney available to explain some of the more puzzling aspects. Plus LOL visual gags, and a classic set piece where the incriminating video evidence is embedded in an inconveniently huge tv monitor Berg and Deasismont are forced to carry around with them during the entire climax. (Real Laurel & Hardy stuff that.) And all cleanly laid out so we can really follow action and logistics thru Holmberg’s canny shot selection. Why Hollywood hasn’t picked this up for remake a mystery.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: The film a remake of 1988's STRUL. (not seen here)
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