En ganske snill mann "A Somewhat Gentle Man" (2010)

Stellan Skarsgård shows his skills in this dramedy about second chances, redemption, and family. It takes a strong actor to dance this bad, and say yes to so many women. It takes a firm confidence to allow being filmed from behind with a bald spot as large as one's pony tail.

When Scandinavians tell a story they do it slowly. It's like making a good stew. Character development is critical and the audience is allowed to enjoy the moments, sights, sounds, and aromas, as if they were part of the story.

The supporting cast are also great and too numerous to mention here. Hopefully my Scandinavian readers will forgive that. Few characters are truly loathsome, but almost all are flawed enough to be real.

Watch this movie with someone who will enjoy the subtitles enough to not even notice them.

The Tourist (2010)

If you are in the mood for a movie with beautiful people doing exciting things in beautiful places, then this might be a good one for you. On the other hand, if you take away those things, there is not much to get worked up about.

Angelina Jolie is elegant if not a little less steamy that her past roles. Johnny Depp is both funny and fierce. But there is too little chemistry between them for my tastes. Paul Bettany does all the real acting here as the anguished Interpol Inspector chasing them. Timothy Dalton who might have been given the lead role back in the day plays the Chief Inspector. And I have to say he does it well.

Steven Berkoff does his usual splendid job playing an international bad guy and Alessio Boni is great as the local Venice cop who makes things happen.

For sure this movie keeps you guessing who the mystery thief is until the end. Some may guess early and some will find out in the end. No spoilers here, but it could have been done a bit better and with much better ending lines.

Watch this movie with someone who has actually been to Venice and enjoy their memories of the place.