It is always exciting to catch a well-plotted crime suspense thriller. "The Snowman" was based on a novel by Norwegian writer Jo Nesbø, the seventh book in his series about detective Harry Hole. I have just visited Norway earlier this year and saw how picturesque and inhospitable the snow there could be. I remember our guide saying with pride that crime is almost non-existent in Norway, so this should be interesting to watch.
Jaded senior detective Harry Hole and his eager new partner Katrine Bratt are investigating a series of puzzling murders of married women that coincidentally happened during a snowfall. Aside from his grisly calling card of a snowman with the victim's head on it, the perpetrator of these crimes purposely taunted Hole on a personal level, which made him all the more obsessed to get to the bottom of these crimes.
Michael Fassbender does very well in these films where he is required to be moody and brooding. His character Harry Hole is a drunk and a drug addict, a loser of sorts in the personal front, thus making him even more melancholic. The sedate way this film was executed, his Harry Hole never really had a distinct Hercule Poirot Eureka moment when he finally figures out who the murderer was, so we do not really see any fire in his performance.
There were so many supporting characters whom we do not get to know too well. Rebecca Ferguson was a pretty and spunky Katrine, who seemed to have ulterior issues. Charlotte Gainsbourg was his odd clingy ex-wife Rakel. Jonas Karlsson played her more respectable new husband, plastic surgeon Dr. Matthias. Val Kilmer had a bizarre appearance as a detective named Rafto who worked on the previous murders.
There was a side story about a perverted philanthropist Arve Stop (played by J.K. Simmons) and his very suspicious association with a certain Dr. Idar Vetlesen (played by David Dencik) who worked in a clinic who did abortions.. A heftier-looking Chloe Sevigny played Sylvia (the woman in the hen house) and her twin Ane. I don't really get why they had to be twins. These are just some details that confused the story instead of pushing it forward.
Director Tomas Alfredson previously gave us winners like "Let the Right One In" (2008) (MY REVIEW) and the remake of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (2011) (MY REVIEW). "The Snowman" no doubt had beautiful photography of the dramatic Norwegian winter landscape. However, Alfredson told his story too coldly and sedately to create any excitement nor suspense. There were certain scenes which seemed to lead nowhere. The eventual solution of the crime was not feel like it was arrived at convincingly through excellence in detective work. Ultimately, this supposed thriller did not really thrill. 6/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment