Super Frat

Based on the book and the film of the same name, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is part mystery/thriller and part character study.  Lisbeth is a punk rock girl with a tortured past and a knack for uncovering secrets, while Mikel is a disgraced journalist.  Together, they get tied up in uncovering the disappearance of a young girl over three decades ago.  Her uncle (Christopher Plummer) is convinced it is a member of his own extended family that committed the murder.  (Steven Berkoff, an actor that has played a long litany of bad guys, including the one in Beverly Hills Cop, plays Plummer’s lawyer.)

Daniel Craig (as Mikel) finally gets a role where he can do something other than punch bad guys and look handsome, but it’s Rooney Mara as the intense and unstable Lisbeth that steals the show.  She is a complex character that faces enormous obstacles, but uses her quiet genius to overcome them.  David Fincher provides the look, including a most amazing opening sequence and Trent Reznor provides the soundtrack.  Serial murder, lesbians and lots of boobies, bros.  What more can you ask?  If this movie was any more visceral, it would bleed.

Some critics have called the plot too conventional.  It does feel a bit like a TV movie at times, but the performances are pretty high brow and there are some clever twists.  Ultimately, it’s the movie format that gives things away.  You can always sense the guilty party when you realize that there are no other name actors or actresses on the screen.  Still, I found Mara’s performance compelling and although the movie felt a little long at two and half hours, I enjoyed it immensely.

I give The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 9 out of 10 keggers.  Go see it bros, but go to the bathroom before it starts.