Reviews

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  ★★★★ review by Hollie Horror on Letterboxd

  Ikke den første norske filmen om en brøytebilsjåfør jeg har sett, men definitivt den beste.

  Og fy faen! Hvorfor selger de ikke Froot Loops på sørlandet?!?

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  ★★★★ review by Jonathan White on Letterboxd

  March Around the World 2018 Edition

  Film #8 - Norway

  
  
  I love Stellan Skarsgård

  
  
  Often playing an irascible jerk, there’s always something special that bubbles up under all that crust. My favourite role of his was the somewhat befuddled hitman Ulrik, just released from prison, and now being reintroduced into criminal society in the brilliant A Somewhat Gentle Man. I guess I love that one not just because Skarsgård plays against type, but rather that he plays a character much like the many others he’s played, but possibly seen from another light … a sympathetic light.

  
  
  In Order of Disappearance grafts the kinder, gentler, Skarsgård into a Death Wish like revenge actioner. His character, Nils ( with the unfortunate surname of Dickman .. a fact not lost on his new found enemies ) with spectacular results. Dark as coal humor elevates the film above what would otherwise be standard action fare, but it’s subdued, and never tries to take centre stage.

  
  
  Being Canadian, It gave me a special kind of pleasure that our protagonist uses a snow plow as his weapon of choice.

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  ★★★★ review by Steve G on Letterboxd

  Springcrime - The April & May Project

  I think I like the cut of Hans Petter Moland's jib.

  The blackly comic crime stylings of the splendid A Somewhat Gentle Man are replicated to a certain extent for In Order Of Disappearance. The difference here is that the comedy is transferred from another Stellan Skarsgård weight-of-the-world riddled character pretty much wholesale to the villains of the piece.

  The comedy is also a lot darker and this is, really, more of a serious crime drama than anything. That's not to say it's not very funny in parts because it is, with the final death of the film being an outstanding piece of recalling not to mention the reaction of the wife of Skarsgård's brother when they bury him. But the comedy is not at the centre of this film, it's more off to the side like a green salad or something.

  This is more or less a vigilante drama that turns rather sharply into a duel between two drugs factions that Skarsgård unwittingly puts in motion. Delightfully, Bruno Ganz pops up as the head of the Serbian side here, adding an extra touch of class to the whole film, while it's Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen as the head of the carrot juice drinking opposition gang that gets most of the film's funnier moments.

  Like with the aforementioned film, there's a poignancy to it all that worked really well. Skarsgård's only reason for living is tracking down who killed his son, a fact that Moland puts across brilliantly by isolating his lead from most of the rest of the characters in this film, and there's a lot of commentary about family units here that adds a fair amount of melancholy to what is going on.

  I think I have more to say about this but that's all I can contribute for now because I'm nodding off and if I leave it until tomorrow then I'll have forgotten everything and my entire review would be "Ooh snow!" But this is a really fine, splendidly acted and marvellously plotted film and I hope that Moland has plenty more of them where they came from. And he can put Skarsgård in all of them as far as I'm concerned.

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  ★★★½ review by Roy Martin RR on Letterboxd

  Kraftidioten, or In Order of Disappearance which it is called in English, is like an Norwegian crossover between the Coen brothers and Quentin Tarantino, just not as good. I felt like the movie was trying a bit too hard, it was trying to be tougher than it actually was. I know it's not to be taken completely serious, but I still feel like it could have done better with another cast, some of the actors felt very misscasted. The movie is still good entertainment, there's aspects that are really good, but still I can't seem to like it as much as everyone else seems to have.

  The movie is about Nils, a Swedish immigrant that just has been awarded for being the citizen of the year. He lives on top near the mountains in a snow-clad paradise, which is perfect for him considered he works as a snow plow driver. In the towns near by there's more going on, a lot of gangs fighting for their territories and getting the best goods and clients. Nils' son has getting himself caught up in something with the gangsters, then something happens to his son and he decides to go after them one by one trying to target the leader.

  When you look at the cast it's really not that bad, actually pretty good. Stellan Skarsgård is playing the leading role as Nils, he is an established actor that has had a role in a lot of movies, he's a really good actor. Even Bruno Ganz is in this movie, you probably know him from Der Untergang as Adolf Hitler. He is playing a Serbian mafia boss named Papa, not a very big role, but he is still the best thing about the whole movie for me. Great actor at his best.
  
  Of course there's Norwegian actors in it; Pål Sverre Hagen plays the leader of the Norwegian mob called Greven. He was the one I felt tried too hard, felt very overplayed. He is actually a good actor overall, I like him, but he wasn't the right man for his part. Kristofer Hivju, Stig Henrik Hoff, Peter Andersson, Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Tobias Santelmann, Sergej Trifunovic, Jan Gunnar Røise and Jakob Oftebro are just some others to name, but to be honest some of them feels very misscasted to me.

  All in all, this is a very fun revenge movie, but it does not reach all the way to the top in my case. I love the scenery, the landscapes are beautiful. The score is really good, very fitting. The movie is at is best when Stellan Skarsgård is on the screen. I laughed a lot though, a pretty funny dark comedy, but sometimes it fails due to trying a bit too hard. I absolutely recommend seeing it, you probably might end up liking it even more than me.

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  ★★★★ review by Waldo on Letterboxd

  Stellan Skaarsgard goes all Charles Bronson when they mess with his family. He has an industrial snowplow business, a very important man if you're living in Norway, citizen of the year. But now he's all about killing a major cocaine dealer and starting a major gangster war between Norwegians and Serbs. Brutal action and a heavy dose of the blackest humor makes this more than just another revenge story. It's on Netflix. Check it out.

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