Easy Money (2012)

Absolutely Brilliant!

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Illegal trade is profitable because there's less competition: prohibition puts most people off, and restricts supply. But without the law to protect you, the competition there is tends to be bloody and violent (which itself serves to further reduce supply). The perfect white collar crime might never be quite as clean as it seems: if someone else wants a piece of your action, things are going to get messy. Daniel Espinosa's film 'Easy Money' is a serviceable thriller, well-done in itself but not especially original. A social climbing business student sees an opportunity to offer his services to a drug smuggling gang; but soon finds that being a money launderer is not quite as simple as he'd hoped. Some details of the plot make less than perfect sense: "take over a private bank and gain access to equity worth 30 times what you pay for it" is a plan that surely needs more explanation. What's good about the drama is that it shows the gang war from multiple sides: the characters may be rotten, but they're still all human, and each with their own mixed motives for the bad things they do. There's nothing here you won't have seen before, but the execution is better than average.

Does story believability not count for anything for folks who gave this movie a 10? I left after the following things took place on screen: 1. Prior to a visit to a Swedish prison a visitor is seen putting stiletto-like knives in the bottom of his shoes. He gets into the prison, circa 2010 (which doesn't have metal detector machines) and then walks into a large exercise yard seemingly dressed like many of the prison inmates exercising. He makes contact with the convict he plans on helping escape, clumsily knocks over a single guard and then the two of them race to a tall metal fence adorned by razor wire on the top. (Perhaps the guards in the yard and in the towers were on a union-sanctioned break and weren't allowed to pursue the escapees since no one appeared to be chasing the two.) Not wounded by the razor wire the two escape and are not recaptured. 2. Later on in the movie the cab driver who was covertly following pursuer two, who in turn had caught the one main prison escapee, discovers the escapees semi-automatic handgun on a forest's floor. How did the gun get there? Was the owner not searched by the two men who were intent on beating him to death? Why didn't the cab driver pick the gun up? After these two inanities took place I decided to not watch anymore of what I found to be a confusing movie up till then to begin with. P.S. In reading about "Easy Money" I learned that this was the second movie in a planned trilogy. Perhaps the filmmakers should have had a synopsis precede the escape to help viewers like me understand what had happened before. Having said this though, the two story lapses still stand out as un-thought out mistakes.

Although its plot seems realistic and is based on a solid book (novel of the same name by Jens Lapidus), the story lines becomes incoherent due to frequent jumps between the three main characters: Johan aka JW (played by Joel Kinnaman; great and credible performance), Jorge (Matias Padin Varela) and Mrado (Dragomir Mrsic); the last two seemed just okay, nothing catchy. Lisa Henni as Sophie is just a beautiful blond Sweden is famous for, no memorable scenes with her.It is also distressing to see how gracious immigration policy through several decades has made Sweden a war-field of national gangs (mostly from Balkans) who have introduced severe and ruthless crimes into formerly peaceful Scandinavia. Lots of countries in the world struggle with issues with 2nd generation immigrants in slums who feel themselves alienated.Nevertheless, I will probably watch its sequel Snabba Cash II in the near future - to compare. But the news that Warner Bros. holds the rights to an American remake with Zac Efron - is not good as Efron is rather mediocre actor. Well, remakes are seldom better, especially is the temporal distance is short.

MediumRareTv.org Director, Daniel Espinosa, attempts to recreate the success of Jens Lapidus' novel, Snabba Cash (Easy Money). Maria Karisson was challenged with writing the screenplay, while Lapidus supplied insight for the manuscript. The film was originally released in 2010 and has now finally made its way to the states after several American film companies hashed it out for the rights. Expect sequels in the near future.Johan "JW" Westland (Joel Kinnaman) is a student at the Stockholm School of Economics, who also secretly moonlights as a cabbie for Abdulkarim (Mahmut Suvakci), to make extra cash. When JW isn't driving a cab or studying he's, partying with the rich and powerful and goes out of his way to appear as one of them with his style of dress and charismatic demeanor. When Abdulkarim approaches JW with an opportunity to make some fast cash, he can't resist.JW is tasked with delivering Jorge Salinas (Matias Padin Varela), who recently escaped prison, to Abdulkarim. Upon arriving at their rendezvous point, JW discovers that Jorge is being followed by Mrado Slovovic (Dragonir Mrsic) and must think fast if he is to save Jorge, whom he never met, from an uncertain death and collect his bankroll. He succeeds, impressing both Jorge and Abdulkarim, and is given the opportunity to work with them both in the drug trade they're attempting to get off the ground. Soon he is faced with the difficulty of managing two lives, one of which includes new girlfriend, Sophie (Lisa Henni).JW is clearly the entity Easy Money revolves around in this action film, though,filmmakers Espinosa and Karisson attempt to reveal secondary story-lines with Jorge and Mrado–a feat which may have been less cumbersome in the novel. The film rotates between the three characters, but you can't help but feel cheated due to the incompleteness of their backstories. They do succeed in humanizing the three to some degree. Hence, Mrado is the hardened killer who finds himself caring for his young daughter unexpectedly and allowing his paternal instincts to take over. Likewise, Jorge vows to care for his family once the big drug deal is completed.Espinosa directs a suspenseful film that doesn't solely depend on action sequences to entertain. Kinnaman gives a charming performance as JW. Varela and Mrsic both give noteworthy performances. By far, JW is the most complex of the characters. At first glance, it seems he is motivated by money, but it becomes clear that a sense of belonging is also a factor. His growing friendship with Jorge begins to impact his decisions and his relationship with Sophie. In fact, the bond of friendship plays a big part in the films questionable ending. However, it again appears the character development between the two lacked the necessary foundation as the outcome attempts to support. JW does evolve throughout this tale, but for the better or for the worse is left up to the viewer. Minus a few hiccups, Easy Money is engrossing and worthy of a look.