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McCannL
Reviews
Kronvittnet (1989)
Love, trust, betrayal and death - a classic who-dunnit movie!
The story, overall, is simple: The investigation of a disappearance of a beautiful young girl.
The screen time is shared almost equally between the three main characters: the man accused of the possible murder, his wife, and the lead detective.
In detail it goes deeper into the triangle of characters inner feelings - their trust, feel of betrayals and their self-belief.
The man is seemingly introvert (which is frustrating at times to watch - we just want him to spill the beans!), the wife and then the detective - who are both victims of the circumstances. One by the longing for a family life, the other lacking the need of feeling loved.
Anyhow, the main reason this movie is rated low on IMDB - at least in my view - is because during a key trial/law processing scene, towards the end of the move, a suspects is being released from custody without us watching really having a chance to understand why.. No real identified reason is declared.
Instead the movie cuts to the final minutes of the suspence "who-dunnit"-scenes and the whole mystery is unraveled - simultaneously we, the audience, are unsure if what is happening on-screen is a throwback/dream sequence - or the actual ending.
!! A huge mistake !!
This major flaw aside, the acting is really good. Especially by the legends (in a Swedish context): Gösta Ekman and Marika Lagercrantz.
Storywise, neglecting the mistake mentioned above, it is really good.
Bet the actual novel the story is based upon is a thriller worth reading!
Overall, a low budget movie with actors performing at a top level.
Would have been rated 8, without the major oversight in the editing/directing mentioned above. Now 7/10...
The Survivor (2021)
Surviving this movie is an achievement.
The story abt Haft could have been great. But unfortunately I found the script below par - and there is such lack of visuality in the movie I almost got provoked. It's full of clichés and obviousness. You always know how every single scene is going to end almost before it starts. The acting however is really good and solid throughout, Foster (always great) & Magnussen shine above the rest (mainly due to their scenes together show their intense great acting abilities (even if the scenes are predictable). But, overall - the talented group of actors have too little to work with - especially Sarsgaard and Krieps - their characters are so flat and predictable.
If it wasn't for the actors I would not even have watched it to the end..
Embattled (2020)
Stephen D is back - big time!
Stephen Dorffs performance is 100% brilliant. Great stuff - from both him and the writers. Kudos. The rest, both characters and story is is standard 1-A formula. Ends when it gets most interesting. A 6 rating at best. Adding +1.5 for Dorff.