The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

When going into David Fincher’s American remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you have to be prepared. As the teaser trailer stated, it is the “feel bad movie” of the holiday season. The other caveat I offer is how you approach the film. Have you read the book? Have you seen the original Swedish film? If you have done neither, you are in for a helluva ride. If you have done one or the other, then you know what to expect. I have done both. The story by Stieg Larsson, is deep, layered, sprawling, and absolutely amazing.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo follows a disgraced investigative reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) as he unravels the forty-year-old mysterious murder of Harriet (Moa Garpendal), the niece of a very rich business man Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). Harriet disappeared from a remote island where only her family was staying. Henrik hires Mikael to look into his niece’s disappearance under the guise of writing his memoirs. Henrik offers Mikael plenty of money to do so. The catch is that all the suspects are Henrik’s family members: brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and himself.

As the plot thickens, Mikael asks for a research assistant. He is given Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). She was hired by Henrik to work up a dossier on Mikael before he was hired. Lisbeth is quite the character. She is a disturbed, anti-social, violent, computer genius who is a ward of the state. Her guardian is Nils Bjurman (Yorick van Waneningen). Bjurman uses his position of authority to get sexual favors from Lisbeth, against her will, before he will give her access to her money. Lisbeth is a strong individual who finds a way to remedy this problem. Together, Mikael and Lisbeth follow each clue, and find the answer to each question. All of this leads up to a very creepy, very eerie climax.

Along the way, many actors and actresses have small cameo roles. The go-to Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård (Thor, Deep Blue Sea) plays the lead suspect Martin Vanger. Goran Visnjic (ER) makes an appearance as Lisbeth’s boss. Robin Wright (The Princess Bride), Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck), Alan Dale (The O.C.) and Steven Berkoff (Beverly Hills Cop, Octopussy) also make cameos.

David Fincher shows why he is one of the best directors working today. His shot composition and shot choices are amazing. Last year’s Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network) reteam to put together a musical score that is sure to garner some attention. The use of their score with Fincher’s visuals gives the film its unsettling tone. Oscar winner Steven Zaillian (Schindler’s List) adapted the screenplay. He took a few liberties, and altered the ending slightly. Other than that, it is a very tight, quick moving script.

Rooney Mara had big shoes to fill. Noomi Repace set the bar high in her take on Lisbeth in the 2009 Swedish version. Yet, Mara pulls it off to perfection. Daniel Craig played a very smart, yet flawed, Mikael. Plummer’s Henrik was perfectly frail. In the book, his character is a frail old man. The rest of the cast was great in their respective roles.

As I mentioned, I have seen the original Swedish film and read the book. I don’t want to sound cliché, but the book is better than both of the film adaptations that it has inspired. Both films leave out plotlines, but they seem to leave out different ones. Each film tells the same story, but in different ways. If you could take both of the films and cut them together, you could make the perfect The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film. Fincher’s version is a very well made film, but I expect nothing less from the director of Seven and Fight Club. This is not a movie for the squeamish. This is also not a family film. But, it is a film worth time (158 minutes) and money (especially the $5 if you go before noon this weekend at Wehrenberg or AMC theaters). Here’s to hoping they can keep the same cast and crew together for the two sequels.

Rating: 8.5/10