Män som hatar kvinnor

Translated from Swedish, that means The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Caesar and I were trying to think of things to do yesterday. Not enough interest in shopping. No plays grabbing our attention. Even TV couldn't hold our interest so while I was searching through a movie ticket site (which shall remain nameless because of the poor service and website functionality), I saw showtimes for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at a small theater in Irvine near my work. Neither of us had known that the book had been turned into a movie. It sounded intriguing -- even in Swedish, with a 2h30m length, and no real knowledge of the story. (Yes, one of the few books I haven't read yet.) Caesar thought it best to buy tickets online since that local theater was the only one within the Orange County/Long Beach area showing the film. And I did, though with much frustration.

40 years ago, Harriet Vanger vanished from her family's island, Hedestad. Her Uncle Henrik has been plagued all these years, believing her to have been murdered. But each year on his birthday, he receives a pressed flower from somewhere in the world, a practice his young niece began all those many years ago. The only person who could be sending the flowers must be his niece's killer. Determined to get to the bottom of Harriet's disappearance once and for all, Henrik hires magazine Mikael Blomkvist to uncover the truth before he must report to prison for a three-month sentence for libel.

While working on the case, Blomkvist finds that his laptop is being hacked, but rather than stealing files, the mysterious hacker instead helps him figure out one of the few leads he has. With the help of Henrik's lawyer, Blomkvist finds the hacker, a young woman named Lisbeth, and convinces her to help him find out what happened to Harriet. But neither of them is prepared for what happens when they uncover a dark Vanger family secret.

For not having read the book, the movie was very easy to follow. A great storyline with fine acting from everyone involved -- Michael Nyqvist as the amateur sleuth Mikael Blomkvist and Peter Haber as Martin Vanger. But Noomi Rapace as Lisbeth Salander steals the movie, playing her character as a driven and unflappable hacker with a secret past of her own. Some parts of the film were a bit tough to sit through, very violent and bloody, and Caesar commented that he had to suspend belief a bit because everywhere on the island, the characters had fantastic cell phone and wireless reception (even while driving). Something small and nitpicky, but go see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo when it's in your area!

Image from the official US movie site.