Smala Sussie

There have for the last decade been quite a lot of Swedish films about the Swedish world outside Stockholm. The stockholmers have had a lot to laugh about. Little is known here about how the smalltown Swedish inhabitants take that.

But "Smala Sussie" ("Slim Sussie" in English) is funny in more ways than being a hillbilly comedy. The acting by young Björn Starrin, Jonas Rimeika and Tuva Novotny is great. There might be a place for a discussion whether murder and using drugs really is a funny subject. Here it is so however, although everything is far from the Tarantino treatment.

But you have to be Swedish to appreciate this. Or maybe Scandinavian.

Absolutely great movie. In the style of "Pulp Fiction" or "Trainspotting" (sort of). Very pulpy and alive. Hilarious full characters and wonderfuls plot development with plenty of hilarious lines and laughable twists and turns! RENT IT!! You won't be sorry.

When I see most movies I feel like I can figure out the plot within moments. I always have the feeling that I know what is going on next and I am usually right, but this movie was different. It kept me on my toes and had a great presentation ( original adaptation of an old standard). "Smala Susie" is definitely one of my new top ten movies of all time. I rented it and have bought it shortly afterwards!!

I stopped watching "Slim Susie" after about 10 minutes in order to get my boyfriend to watch it with me. The first 10 minutes I was laughing continuously and couldn't stop. I have heard about "Slim Susie", but the last few years of Swedish comedy has been kind of boring. The kind of movies where you almost fall asleep because they are all the same and have similar endings, but "Slim Susie" is not. Quite many of the actors are new faces to me. But in this case I think that was more positive than negative. I can't think of a better movie to watch when it's raining outside and you need some fun. This is it, you have found the right movie! Really, I have not seen anything this funny since 1980s. And the best is that Bengt Alsterlind from (Hajk) has a part in "Slim Susie". This movie really shows the Swedish small town humor and when the acting seems bad, remember: I think it was meant that way. I am happy to say that "Slim Susie" is now among my DVD-collection!

I saw this movie a week or two ago at the Seattle intl film festival and it was one of my favorites.

The characters were all very funny in a clumsy and idiosyncratic sort of way. Much like a Coen bros. movie plot they are a bit too dumb and small-town-naive to pull off their objectives without screwing themselves up, but that's what makes it funny, right?

The dialog was great as well, with a few funny Tarantino-esqe side narratives. In fact, the screenplay also reminded me of Tarantino or Guy Ritchie films as it jumped around chronologically and repeated some of the story from different characters' perspectives.

I imagine if you like those directors (well, who doesn't?), you'd find this one very worth your while as well (although a bit less stylized and certainly less violent then most of Tarantino's work which I happen to think is a plus!)

Alienation from close people, frequent search for something big and different, worship of money, and downgrade of townships are common issues in everyday life in the Western world. Slim Susie shows those and similar topics via "fun-house mirror" and odd personalities capable of commit felonies, if necessary. Village and small town types are often funny for outsiders as their world of thinking is totally different plus they often stick to their "pleasant" past. The director and co-writer Ulf Malmros has depicted the phenomena in a skillful manner, and his selection of character actors (e.g. Tuva Novotny, Lotta Tejle, Michael Nyqvist, Lena Dahlman) provides the film with additional value. Perhaps the course of action is not always smooth and some scenes seem arid, but the overall script is wittily constructed - with some patterns from independent British and US films.

The film is definitely for you if you like crazy crime comedies with stylish types and background.