The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared

I really enjoyed the Jonas Jonasson novel "The Centenarian Who Climbed Out the Window and Vanished" as well as the following film "The Hundred Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared".

The film was both as fun as the book, was a big success both in native Sweden as well as in the rest of the world.

The plot is: A year has gone, and the money is spent, when an old bottle of a Russian soft drink makes a stir, because it so good. Already here we lose the interest, and the film is all about a gang of old people, a gang of hoodlums, a Russian daughter and CIA with the Swedish police are all after this soft drink recipe.

Well, to make a long story short, this is just like the first an unlikely black comedy in style of Forrest Gump, though darker and way more stupid, and filled with more stupid humans. Other films it's in class with here would be "Fargo", "One night at McCools", "Seven psychopaths" a.s.o. This film, however, hasn't got a book as a basic script, and this is quite obvious. The film tries to be funny, but simply isn't.

Where the first film three years ago was a good farce, which gave many laughs and the two hours went like one, this is just tepid and feels like it never ends. The audience in the theater only laughed twice in the two hours.

Still there are some great things. The make up is even more brilliant than in the first film, and way better than we've seen in Hollywood films (!). Amazing, once more. Robert Gustafsson, playing Allan, is just 52, but here he looks perfect as 101 years old man. (Well, maybe he looks a young 101, but still it's quite passable.)

Some of the CGI isn't very good, though. Especially the explosions and fires are bad, but it doesn't hurt the story, since it's far from believable anyway. The famous persons portrayed are also quite good.

What annoys extremely again, just as in the first, is the music, which really is Balkan circus music. Extremely annoying! This is the worst bit of the movie.

A pity that a great comedy has got such a lousy follow up.

The first film was a Forrest Gump wanna-be and it succeeded very well. The sequel is exacly the same, but a new story this time. It brings almost all the characters and same actors from previous film which add a lot of nostalgia. The filmmaking and style are exacly the same of this film, the pacing, jokes, everything's same but different. If you loved original this is a must watch.

After watching this movie, I was so entertained and so impressed, I was planning on only watching Swedish film from here on out. Then I found here the Swedish critic that offers an alternate review in English and was very bummed to read, that in his opinion Swedish film sucks... but this one was OK. I had been hoping that in style, class and content this movie was reflective of an entire nation's movies. That somewhere, was a treasure trove of similar flicks, just waiting for me to enjoy! To me it made perfect sense. You see I'm already a big fan of those heavenly meatballs topped with that creamy gravy and then those sneaky Swedish devils complete this culinary masterpiece with their sweet tangy lingonberry sauce, it hardly matters they then sprinkle parsley on everything. I mean they could sprinkle a crushed half smoked cigar on it and it still would be absolutely delectable. Pardon me, I digress. I'm almost tempted to exclude another reason I'm indebted to Sweden. If you've ever wanted to interior design on a budget, yet have it look like you cleaned out one of Trump's accounts, listen up- First you do need to buy a few high end pieces and make sure they're centrally located, that they catch the eye. Then you rent an extra large Uhaul and head down to Ikea. Fill that truck up with everything else you need and I mean everything because that's exactly what they have. Then get ready for your formerly nice friends to be green with envy. You see, one of the reasons they liked you is they THOUGHT that they had more money than you. The fact that they do can be a little secret, just between you and Sweden!Back to the movie- That critics opinion is not going to persuade me to not find out for myself. Especially when were talking about this writer, director and film crew! Big BRAVO and great job! For me, this movie had everything, I was so thoroughly engrossed, enthralled, entertained, OK already you get it! I loved it because it touched on nearly all of my personal interests/loves; History, an exotic beach vacation, learning/observing other cultures, travel (especially when not trapped/jammed together with other tourists but rather with locals that are not trying to sell you something), my favorite animal is... you guessed right- a monkey! I also am very interested in aging gracefully and have a great desire to experience fun adventures when elderly- this flick subconsciously gives me hope while informing of the fact it's a choice as evidenced by the younger folk stuck in the elderly home/hospital. I knew the lead actor was not really 101 on some levels (I hope!) but had a mental checklist going; OK, he's got his faculties, he's walking very well, nice job getting through the window! So when I learned the fine actor with great makeup was only 52 I was somewhat disappointed. I love time travel, "Time travel movies" you ask? "Yeah sure, some but even more the concept and fantasizing about what it was like back in time". While this movie did not feature a time machine, some of my favorite scenes were the flashbacks, especially the party in Berlin and the Nixon scenes. Such a great job of seamlessly incorporating the fictional movie into factual history! Finally I really enjoy this brand of humor. A critical critic said the movie was a black comedy in the same class as "Fargo". While "Fargo" is on my short list of favorite movies, I'm not a certified movie buff. Is this the right term? Black?

So, that said, I haven't yet figured out why I look forward to a repeat and some deep Thoughts to why I love this movie so much. Additionally I just wish I wasn't so lost during the cold war part as the user reviewer "steinberger 00911" on 4/09/2017 so insightfully pointed out. Why is this? My parents are both from Europe and the majority of us here are of European descent. Please help me man!

It's a fun sequel that lives up to its predecessor; the plot is good and the characters are charismatic; I recommend it.

Following on from the first film this is equally absurd and bizarre.

Good performances again, but the monkey steals it.

Shame about the potty-mouthed Brit.