Easy Money III: Life Deluxe

What I will always remind from this film is the long take heist sequence and some scenes related to the preparation of the heist, the drills in the empty abandoned warehouse. Like a military operation. The heist, that's only what I liked, I loved, in this movie. That's the third or fourth time I see it and only for this reason. I forget the rest, as the two other EASY MONEY films. Last week, I reviewed THE QUIET ONES, proposing a very similar heist, in a security complex facility for armored trucks. This very movie here is rather a bit complex, too much for me. But it's not a crap, not at all. I just give my opinion and also my feeling.

This story is all over the place. It is horribly edited. Instead of moving forward in a linear fashion, each scene skips ahead and then retells the story with flashbacks over ominous music. The time frame throughout the movie is ridiculous. One minute dude is drunk on a beach on one side of the planet, the next he appears at the front gate on the other side of the planet. And where is Joel Kinnaman? His scenes are completely detached from the movie and he appears in like a total of 5 minutes of the movie. I don't know if the book is better, but this movie literally makes no sense. The only reason you will find it interesting is if you are vested in the first two movies so that you know the characters. But still it doesn't make it that much better. If you haven't watched the previous movies you will definitely be lost.

And so concludes a Scandinavian crime thriller along the lines of other triptychs like Department Q and Pusher. I like these films because, in spite of their faults, they are still intriguing. Snabba Cash is no exception. I thought the handsome Swedish guy was going to be the main character but it turned out to be the Serb's daughter and the Spaniard. Who knew? Recommended? Sure, why not. Could've been worse.

The original 'Easy Money' was an above-average thriller about an ordinary guy who gets involved with gangsters; the sequel basically re-hashed the same plot, but more cheesily. This third, hastily-bashed out film, is easily the worst of the lot, a thriller with an amateurishly complex plot and equally amateurishly simple acting, with a heavy reliance on flashbacks to retrospectively make sense of the story. The plot themes are only loosely connected to those of the earlier movies; the decision to turn killer Jorge into a romantic hero is a surprising one. Overall, this has a "straight to video" feel, and leaves the strong impression that the film-makers didn't know how to make a proper movie, couldn't afford it, or just couldn't be bothered. In any case, the discerning viewer doesn't need to watch the trilogy to its end.

Overall, a solid ending to a well crafted gangster trilogy. Joel K. only has a handful of scenes, which is the primary weakness in an otherwise nicely done film. I do want to read the books on which these films are based. And that is a good sign from my perspective.