Friday, January 6, 2012

"The Girl" Has A Lot More Than Just A "Dragon Tattoo"

David Fincher captivates audiences once again with his adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just in time for awards season. Fincher's latest work since the best motion picture of 2010 (I don't care what the Academy says) is dark and quite often brutal to watch, but also a great piece of cinema due to his direction and Rooney Mara's portrayal of the lead character, Lisbeth Salander, that will certainly keep people talking, and hopefully the people that really matter: members of the AMPAS.
Getting into the plot would be too complicated and a bit repetitive since the award-winning novel and Swedish films have been out for years, but I'll provide a brief explanation for those who have no idea what this whole story is about. It follows Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a journalist for Millennium magazine in Sweden who has just lost a libel case to a crooked businessman. Despite this, he is hired by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to investigate the case of his niece, Harriet, who has been missing for 40 years and may in fact have been murdered. Eventually, Mikael hires Salander as an assistant after learning that she performed the background check on him before being chosen by Henrik. Up to this point, we also witness what is going on in Salander's life at the same time as we see Mikael deal with the entire wacky Vanger family on Henrik's property.
Although the whole story is a mystery, I found that the conclusion and the discovery of everything was a bit expected. I had a few hunches and they were all correct. Fincher could have done a better job at building the suspense for the actual mystery, but his attention in other areas allows for the film to shine regardless. Although "shine" might not be the right word since it's so very dark and ominous. 
It was extremely difficult to find someone to join me in the theater because everyone is aware of the rape scenes in the film. Normally, I can handle anything on screen, but this was pretty hardcore. Rooney Mara really makes you feel her pain. And although she's supposed to be a complete freak in this film, there's still something oddly appealing about her. She's also naked a lot more than I expected, but then again I never read the book aside from a bit of the beginning and a few major sequences that my girlfriend had me look at, so what do I know? Fincher didn't want Mara in this part at first, but now I think he's aware that changing his mind was a very good idea. Mara definitely deserves recognition and her full commitment to the role defines her as a wonderful actress. She's still kind of sporting the odd haircut in real life too.
Other than the mystery being a bit predictable, the only other problem with the movie is that the girl cast as Harriet looks exactly like Rooney Mara. When they first showed her picture, I thought it was a relative of hers or her with a different hairstyle. It would have been much easier to follow if the two actresses didn't look so similar to one another. Maybe that is something that is explained in the other books or maybe it's just a coincidence, but either way it was a little confusing.
I have also heard that the original film is much better than Fincher's version, and since this one is so well done and has received much critical acclaim, the original must be spectacular. I'll have to check it out. Nevertheless, the latest Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is very entertaining particularly thanks to Fincher's directing style and Mara's outstanding performance. I don't mean to leave Craig out of the loop because he's always entertaining, but it's just his standard acting as usual, which is fine. I'm not sure how fans of the Swedish film or of the book itself will feel about it, but overall it's a great movie. We'll see these guys at the Oscars, and then hopefully all three major players (Craig, Mara, and Fincher) on board for the sequels.

Stars: 3/4

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