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Jackpot – The Bleeding Cool Review

Published Tue, 07 Aug 2012 06:22:22 -0500

Last updated Tue, 07 Aug 2012 06:22:28 -0500

One of the key trends in books and TV for the past few years has been the gloomy Scandinavian detective. I suppose it started with Wallander but the gloomy Scandinavian detective drama that really broke the ice was all-conquering knitwear festival The Killing.

Norwegian author Jo Nesbø is as Scandinavian as you like. He's even got one of those funny little lines through the 'o' in his name. He's primarily known for his long-running series of Harry Hole detective novels. Harry's a gloomy Scandinavian detective in the classic mould. But Jackpot (original title Arme Riddere) is something else altogether.

Jackpot was never a gloomy Scandinavian novel. Written for the screen, it's a loopy grand guignol tribute to Tarantino and the Coens. There's a taste of Blood Simple and Fargo in there, certainly, and some of that ostentatious flashbackery that Quentin likes. It's most distinguished though by its unreliable narrator. You won't be quite sure what's true until the credits roll. And maybe not even then.

The blood-spattered action takes place on the Norway / Sweden border. Oscar, Thor, Billy and Tresko probably have all manner of little lines and stuff through their names too. They work at a dangerous-looking facility that rehabilitates former convicts by setting them to work making plastic Christmas trees. The minute you see the machinery involved, you know it'll be put to some nefarious purpose later.

The four protagonists dream of getting out of that dead-end life by betting on the football pools. They can make Christmas trees, but they can't do long division. So when their syndicate wins 1,739,361 Norwegian Kroner (£188,000) the group – you couldn't call them friends – have a problem. The solution is explained, mainly in flashback, by one of the four who is discovered by police in a corpse-strewn strip club.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X85Z2PZeRBI[/youtube]

The movie's a lot funnier than the trailer suggests. I doubt that you'll recognise any of the actors. The principal character looks a bit like a better-fed David Tennant and the role of the investigating detective with a droll line in patter is surely a safe bet for Willem Dafoe in the inevitable Hollywood remake. Together, they make a convincing bunch of lowlifes and psychos.

You probably won't know any of director Magnus Martens's work either, and outside of Headhunters you may not know much about Jo Nesbø. But if you have a sick sense of humour, you liked Shallow Grave and you've always wondered how they make the red Christmas trees, this one's worth an each-way bet.

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