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Released by: Anchor Bay Entertainment
Released on: March 26, 2013.
Director: Daniel Espinosa
Cast: Joel Kinnamen, Lisa Henni
Year: 2012
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The Movie:
Anchor Bay steps into the foreign thriller market with Swedish director Daniel Espinosa's EASY MONEY - and while this is an excellent film it's also a fair bit removed from most of AB's usual straightforward action fare like THE PACKAGE.
JW (Joel Kinnaman) is a student working illegally off the books driving a taxi and also living a weird double life. He spends a lot of time hanging out in Stockholm's most expensive neighborhoods drinking and enjoying the posh lifestyle. He's living far beyond his means and after getting involved with rich girl Sophie (Lisa Henni) he's forced into a put up or shut up situation. In order to facilitate making a reality of the lifestyle he's pretending to, JW gets involved in drug smuggling and money laundering.
EASY MONEY is a very densely plotted film with an interesting focus on character driven action. There are some very intense moments - but it's all rooted in reality. As JW goes further down the rabbit hole of organized crime we meet some very interesting criminals. One drug lord is forced to care for his young daughter due to the mother's narcotic addiction. While the man is capable of horrific violence he's also a loving father. It is details like this that set EASY MONEY apart from the typical blood and thunder American dtv flick. As the protagonist gets more greedy and desperate we watch his transformation from simple social striver to hardened criminal. The film also does a very effective job of wrapping up the many plot strands in a satisfying if potently downbeat conclusion.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Anchor Bay's Anamorphic Widescreen 2:35:1 transfer looks terrific. Sadly this film was not granted a Blu ray release but the DVD is certainly a high quality affair. Color and detail are strong but keep in mind that this is a film with a lot of intentionally bled-out color and handheld camera work. I didn't find it distracting but viewers should be aware going in that this is a slightly unorthodox film visually.
The Swedish Dolby Digital 5.1 track with removable English subtitles is unusually well done. I was particularly impressed with the sound field during the fight scenes. It's an aggressive track when it needs to be (with good but discrete use of LFE) but never slips into showboating overkill. Dialog is always clear and the subtitles were free from any obvious spelling errors. Not being a native Swedish speaker I cannot vouch for their 100% veracity however!
The disc is bare bones - no extras are included.
The Final Word:
For followers of foreign films of the action/drama variety and those who enjoy crime dramas with thoughtful scripts, EASY MONEY is highly recommended. It does require your full attention though. This is not a film to throw on and turn your brain off with.
