Jo Nesbot's Jackpot
- Year:2011
- Rating:MA
- Director:Magnus Martens
- Cast:Marie Blokhus, Kyrre Hellum, Henrik Mestad, Mads Ousdal
- Release Date:August 02, 2012
- Distributor:Rialto
- Film Worth:$15.50
- FILMINK rates movies out of $20 - the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
An entertaining and very funny black comedy, which never oversteps the line.
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Oscar (Kyrre Hellum) is the sole survivor of a violent gun battle in a strip club/porn store. Winning 1.7 million krones on a football bet was the catalyst for how he ended up there, but that is about all that's certain, as he retells his story while being interrogated by an incredulous and thorough detective (Henrik Mestad). Whether he is a suspect or a witness is unclear, but there is definitely more to Oscar's story than meets the eye.
Based on the novel by Jo Nesbo (Headhunters), and set in the border town between Sweden and Norway, Oscar works in a plastic Christmas tree factory staffed with ex-cons. When he enters into a winning bet with co-workers, Thor (Mads Ousdal), Billy (Arthur Berning) and Dan (Andreas Cappelen), it turns out that these crooks aren't so reformed after all. With the winning jackpot at stake, no one can be trusted, as no one wants to share.
Opening with an actual bang - and with a very Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels meets The Usual Suspects feel - Jackpot instantly grabs your attention. It's a very dark comedy: the dialogue is funny, and the violence is funnier, and at times quite ridiculous, especially in a scene where we see two characters argue over the most appropriate place to begin cutting up a dead body with an axe. The bloodshed is gory without being offensive, which is a big part of what makes Jackpot work so well. From the start, we know that Oscar survives, which removes the tension from the action, and while its non-linear timeframe doesn't make Jackpot hard to follow, the twists and turns are at times a little predictable. Nevertheless, the story is entertaining and engaging, as we see the extremities people will go to when it comes to greed.
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