Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 50
Fresh: 43 | Rotten: 7
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 22 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 3,524
Lower-class business student JW (Joel Kinnaman) falls in love with a sexy heiress while living a double life mingling with Stockholm's wealthy elite. To keep up the façade of his lifestyle, he's lured into a world of crime. Jorge is a petty fugitive on the run from both the police and Serbian mafia. He hopes that brokering a massive cocaine deal will allow him to escape for good. Mafia enforcer Mrado is on the hunt for Jorge, but his efforts are complicated when he's unexpectedly saddled with
R, 1 hr. 59 min.
Drama, Action & Adventure, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense
All Critics (50) | Top Critics (25) | Fresh (43) | Rotten (7) | DVD (1)
The story is overcooked and the gritty aesthetic (handheld cameras, desaturated color) borders on cliche.
One of the most involving of the many first-rate thrillers that have come recently from Scandinavia.
Chalk another one up for Swedish crime-thriller novels.
What really distinguishes it from any number of drug-escapade stories is the unusual and welcome sense of Dostoyevskian moral gravity of the narrative.
The increasing action and double crosses create an ambient crescendo leading to a final anything-could-happen rendezvous.
The movie builds and builds only to land in a zone of ambiguity.
A padded but entertaining Scandinavian thriller made memorable thanks to its timely economic context.
A fine thriller that relies entirely on the characters' motivations ... to drive the plot instead of the opposite.
This Swedish thriller isn't just a great crime film, it's a great film, period. Based on the novel by Jens Lapidus, Easy Money is positively Dickensian in its themes and scope.
JW's naivete that no one will get hurt will more likely inspire chuckles than sympathy for a guy who gets in over his head.
Easy Money is a good mob drama with drugs, girls and enough moral conflict to fool you into thinking that these events could happen to anyone.
Kinnaman is a revelation as the in-over-his-head dreamer; witnessing his comeuppance as his world collapses down around him is spellbinding cinema.
Although this Swedish vehicle is thoughtfully engineered and has some vivid streaks of color, it could use a jump start to escape the vanilla ice.
Excellent crime yarn about drug smuggling and the arguably more treacherous business of social climbing in Stockholm, Sweden.
a character study of the first order masquerading as a highly effective thriller, using the tropes of that latter genre with a scalpel-like precision, and the severity of an Old Testament deity, as it dissects the perils of pursuing form, not substance.
Yes, that is Joel Kinnaman of the Danish-based AMC series 'The Killing,' in which he plays a rain-soaked Seattle homicide detective, speaking fluent Swedish in the lead role in 'Easy Money.'
An exciting Swedish crime thriller that reaffirms the status of director Spinoza as a major talent to watch.
Not a film of predictability or resolution, but grit, with director Daniel Espinosa finding a fascinating tone of helplessness to forcefully slice through the expected tough guy attitude.
...an interesting film but somewhat sterile. There is little emotion from the characters (except Latin blooded Jorge) and their upcoming deadly collision is inevitable.
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Jude Law's Best Movies
Identity thieves and impostors
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Joel Kinnaman, who is best known outside the borders of Sweden for his role in The Killing, does an excellent job with the character, making him believable and incredibly interesting, as he gets sucked deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld of Stockholm and its suburbs. Honestly, I wasn't too impressed with Kinnaman when I saw him in The Darkest Hour and Safe House"(the latter of which is also directed by Swedish-Chilean film-maker Daniel Espinosa), but here he is in his right element and brings a lot of nuance and subtlety to his performance.
Another thing I really loved about this movie, is that it doesn't just show the ugly side of our characters' exploits. They abuse, trade in drugs and engage in corrupt and shady affairs, yet the movie never forgets about their humanity. In example, some of the film's most riveting and heart-gripping moments comes when Mrado, a brutal Serbian torpedo played by Dragomir Mrsic, tries to balance his violent life with taking care of his young daughter. It added something to the story that felt very authentic and original.
Technically, it's really well-made to boot. Theis Schmidt's outstanding editing, in unison with David Espinosa's firm and superlative directing, gave it a very professional touch, with a pacing that operates at the perfect speed. I have nothing to complain about there whatsoever.
Not many outside Sweden have probably heard of this film, but if you enjoyed the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, or any of the other Stieg Larsson films, you should definitely not miss this. I thought this was even better in some ways, which should be saying something about just how qualitative it is.
All in all, a surprisingly great neo noir piece, with powerful performances and a highly suspenseful storyline. I expected mediocracy, but was instead presented with a top notch action thriller, that kept me glued to my seat throughout.