Tolérance zéro

I'm quite surprised since "Noll tolerans" is a Swedish thriller that actually works. It's far from perfect, but the basic premise (would *you* dare to testify?) is very interesting and the three leads (Jacob Eklund, Marie Richardson and Peter Andersson) are all great. The score is also very effective. The film is about fifteen minutes too long and I think the story could have needed some shortening, but it's still a good film. (6/10)

"Noll Tolerans" certainly isn't the best of Scandinavian cinema I've ever seen, but it certainly isn't as bad as some people would like you to believe. It reminded me more of German detective series like for instance "Tatort" or "Ein fall für Zwei" than that it gave me the feeling that I was watching a movie. I guess this is more straight-to-video material and not really a movie for the cinemas, nevertheless I had a good time watching it.

The story is about Johan Falk, a tough police officer, who finds himself in a shoot-out with jewel robbers. He survives it, but an innocent bystander and one of the robbers get killed. Several witnesses recognize Leo Gaut as the other robber, but Gaut isn't just a small-time criminal. He's a very dangerous guy, who doesn't mind threatening the witnesses. Of course the witnesses soon change their declarations, because they fear for their lives and Falk gets suspended and will be arrested because the police now thinks that he started the shooting. Falk escapes, but instead of hiding, he tries to find out the truth, while being chased by some of his own colleagues.

The movie doesn't offer any special twists, but the story is more than OK and the acting is good. Overall watching this movie isn't the most shocking movie experience you'll ever have, but it is decent enough to keep you interested from the beginning to the end. I give it a 7/10.

Marketed as one of Sweden´s first real action movies ever, "Noll Tolerans" therefore has a lot to live up to. But in my eyes, this is more of a regular cop-thriller than a heavy action movie.

One problem is that "Noll Tolerans" showcases the biggest action scene five minutes into the movie, and every other action scene later on feels like a step down. The ending feels extremely tired. But you can´t deny that this is still very competent work.

The movie begins shortly before Christmas eve, when policeman Johan Falk (Jacob Eklund) runs into foul business on the street. After a frenetic car chase he is confronted with two jewel-thieves, and after a violent shootout one of the robbers gets killed. Thanks to witnesses the other criminal is later arrested. But he manages to threaten the witnesses to silence, and after a while the police force is after Johan Falk instead. Now he must prove he is innocent.

"Noll Tolerans" is an ambitious movie, but you can´t deny that in the States this would have been a straight to video-release. The story is not interesting enough and the pace is awfully slow. Action fans can´t be too happy with this one, but it did get a sequel called "Livvakterna" two years later.

2/5

Disappointing action movie about a police offer on the run. Concerns the dangers of testifying, but that aspect appears to be only an excuse for the story rather than a basis for it. We have seen it all before, particularly in US movies. If you are hungry for Swedish police action, Hassel - Förgörarna or one of the more recent Beck movies would be a better choice.

"Noll Tolerans" is a pretty good movie even though the pacing is relatively slow for an action movie.

Most scenes in the film are quite good, but the could also have been better. It's all in the details. For example: as mentionened above, the pacing could have been faster; the dialogue could have been more interesting, the script could have been more inventive e.t.c.

The actors are very good overall, especially Jakob Eklund and Marie Richardson (a couple in real life, I think !?!?).

Anyway, this movie is pretty good and it's worth a viewing.