Chain of Fools

This is basically a "laugh at the losers" episode flick in the vein of "Short Cuts", without the pretension and with a healthy dose of Quentin Tarantino thrown in for good measure (sans the nastiness and macho violence.) Chain of Fools boasts the essential (for this type of movie) array of crooks and oddballs; from Jeff Goldblum's psychopathic rent-a-thief character to Elijah Wood's adolescent aspiring hitman.

The film is uneven, which is probably a result of the relative inexperience of the director(s). There are several scenes that just feel pointless, and the Bollingsworth character could have used a little polishing, but on the whole the movie is thoroughly enjoyable. Steve Zahn is great as the loser protagonist, Elijah Wood shines as the hitman wannabe, Jeff Goldblum turns in a solid performance and sexy Salma Hayek once again demonstrates she can do a lot more than just look pretty and dance with snakes.

Chain of Fools is no Pulp Fiction, but it has got an endearing quality all of its own. If Tarantino and the Coen brothers were to do a movie together I imagine you would get something a lot like this.

I give it 7/10, where Pulp Fiction is a 10/10 and The Big Lebowski is a 9/10.

The movie opens on March 9 in Sweden. The team behind the movie, Traktor, are Swedish and therefore the world premiere is in Sweden. The celebrity premiere, yes there are such in Sweden too, was tonight at 7PM, and Traktor was presenting the movie. Jeff Goldblum should have been at the gala, but had to be in NYC to shoot a new film. He said hello in a very special way, with a short recording just for the gala audience, where he was doing jokes, singing "drinking songs" and wishing he had some Swedish Herring.

Chain of Fools is Traktor's first movie. They have done tons of commercials, but never a movie. Chain of Fools is their first stab at the silver screen - and man, what a good way to become immortal.

Steve Zahn is down on his luck, well, a loser. He is doing nothing, just being a loser... but by accident he get into both this and that. The movie is smart and moves from one thing to another and back again. The way the story is described and played in the movie, is similar to "Pulp Fiction", "O'Brother", "Numbers" and "True Romance". It's a blend, but you will feel right at home if you enjoyed those flicks. A dark, whacky and sarcastic humor poors out of the film.

Bottom line, I highly recommend this movie if you are into the earlier mentioned - even though the concept doesn't feel as fresh any more.

Robert Bollingsworth's dying words are "Where is the moose?" (or, possibly, "When will the moose come?"), which must be an inside joke for the Swedish audience from the two (Swedish) directors. Supposedly, the elderly Swedish king, Gustav V, (the present king's great grandfather) once fell asleep in church during a lengthy sermon. Suddenly, the king awoke, and believing he was on a moose hunt, he asked aloud "När kommer älgen?", which literally translates into "When does the moose come?". The phrase has been used e.g., by the Swedish comedians "Hasse & Tage", Hans Alfredsson and Tage Danielsson, in one of their stage productions, where Tage Danielsson played Gustav V.

Recap: Kresk, struggling barber, recently divorced by his wife stumbles upon a secret when a gangster comes into his barbershop. This gangster, Avnet, was involved in a high profile theft last night involving three ancient Chinese coins. He thinks Kresk must die, fortunately fro Kresk Avnet stumbles and get Kresk's scissor in his neck. Now Kresk has a body to take care of. Unfortunately for Kresk, Kresk is not the brightest boy in town. And worse, neither is his friend Andy, full time scout, who he enlists for help. But as time goes, and things get worse, more and more people get involved, but Kresk is determined that those coins will change his life. For the better, he hopes.

Comments: An unusual comedy/crime movie handling a lot of different subplots that runs at the sides of each others with a lot of intersections. What makes this unusual and imaginative is that what happens in a subplot we are not currently following has an impact how the story goes at the next intersection. At the same time we get the full coverage in time with a frequent use of flashbacks and jumps in the timeline. Still, it was never any problem to follow.

The movie has a really big cast, and a lot of the names on the list are known. Goldblum delivers a solid performance as usual, Zahn is a great choice for Kresk. The best impression however I think I got from Elijah Wood who portrays a teen hit-man with finesse. I think it is the best performance from him I have ever seen. The director team Traktor has done a great work in their movie debut and I hope I will see more work from them like this one.

7/10

Ok, well, this wasn't a masterpiece or a greater work of art. But it sure was a very funny movie. A movie, which, given the right release, could have been a hit. It's a good script, a very hilarious one. The premise is nothing new. Just the story of a normal guy who, agains't his own will, get thrown into a bunch of impossible situations. I'll give this movie a 7. A perfect movie to watch with a bunch of friends. The only problem is finding it.