Hypnotisören (2012) Reviews

• Read the book!!!

  kristian19872013-07-30

  The film is quite enjoyable but it does not come close to the book. I think this is the main reason why the movie has such a low rating: majority of people watching this film were first readers of the book. I did not expect word for word adaptation of the book, but this film does not do justice to the story. It alters and reinvent the story. It takes a few motives from the book but that's it. I was quite disappointment. Maybe I am biased and I'm judging the film in comparison to the book. But what can I say, the screen play is just bad. What it has me baffled is, why did the two authors allow the release of the movie in state as it is? If only goal was commercial success than I am deeply disappointed.

• Truly awful

  peter-593-2214792013-01-28

  Contains some spoilers! With a script based on a best selling crime novel, a Hollywood director (Lasse Hallström), a big budget (SEK 61 million = almost USD 10 million), two star actors (Mikael Persbrandt and Lena Ohlin) you would think the result would be exceptional. It is. Exceptionally bad unfortunately. The peculiar murder story has so many plot wholes it becomes laughable. Trying to explain one will just tear up a new one. For example: What made the murderer follow his mothers instructions and murder his family? Why would a mother instruct her son to stab himself in the chest so that he almost dies? How did the mother get a job at the hospital? Why would the mother suddenly think the hypnotist's son is hers? Absolutely nothing is explained. The main character detective Jonna Linna is incredibly weak and dull. Almost nothing is revealed about his private life and absolutely no character development. Instead way too much time is spent on Mikael Persbrandt and Lena Ohlin's characters and their relationship, which is not relevant at all to the main story. The way the police acts is just stupid. Would the parents of a kidnapped son be allowed to come with the police to the kidnappers house? Would a police officer lower his gun when standing face to face with a kidnapper armed with a shotgun and responsible for the murder of several persons? I don't think so. Several supporting characters and plots are presented without any relevance to the main story. Trust me, this is a complete mess. The fact that this film was Sweden's foreign-language Oscar submission is nothing but a joke. The Oscar academy wisely did not nominate it.

• Plot void

  ncg-22013-06-12

  The movie features internationally known actors who perform excellent with the material they have got to work with. I never got to sympathize with any of them though, the script and the way Lasse Hallstrom directs never lets me. There is a fast pace throughout the movie where things just happen without visible motive or any chance of contemplation, which makes it feel erratic at best. All you can do as a watcher is to lean back and disconnect the grey cells. As far as the plot goes, there are huge plot elements missing from the Swedish best selling book of 2009 which in my opinion never was that great to begin with. With the parts that gave the books some depth excluded we are left with a shallow story at most. At least Lena Olins performance elevated the movie a notch, and I believe no other Swedish director than Hallstrom would have been able to provoke the feelings she is showing. The other actors were fair to good, not more not less. I would not recommend this movie even if you have two hours to spare.

• Scandinavian crime drama

  Laakbaar2013-01-19

  The current rating on IMDb is too low. This is an enjoyable enough film. It's certainly worth taking in, especially if you're into crime dramas. The plot is fairly straightforward. Three members of a family are brutally killed, only the oldest boy surviving. He's in a coma though. Police investigator Joona Linna (played by Tobias Zilliacus) ends up investigating the crime. He gets a doctor to come in to hypnotise the boy to identify his assailant, and the doctor succeeds in doing so. (It is apparently possible for comatose patients to talk under hypnosis.) But then the doctor and his family become caught up in the drama. Will the killer be stopped? It's a good, simple story. The start and end of the movie in particular are quite strong. The climactic scene at the isolated farm was unexpected and the best part of the movie. Spectacular filmmaking really. It had me on the edge of my seat. The acting was fine. There's a lot of character development involving Joona Linna, Erik Maria Bark (played by Mikael Persbrandt) and his wife Simone (played by Lena Olin). The movie is called "The Hypnotist" but I didn't really see the doctor as being at the centre of the movie. This is a slow paced movie, a little too slow for me at times. That might be why people have not rated it higher. Most of the events take place in a hospital and three homes. There are a lot of shots of wintry Stockholm, a suitable backdrop I suppose for a dark Scandinavian crime drama. I enjoyed what I assume is a realistic portrayal of Swedish life. The dialogue was in Swedish, with subtitles. Everything in the movie seemed rather understated and starkly realistic. This is not a grand Sweden of magic and beauty. As you might expect in a thoroughly Swedish movie, mental illness and human foibles are the major crime themes. No Hollywood moralising here about good and evil, right and wrong. Bias disclosure: This is not my favourite genre. I know next to nothing about Scandinavian crime novels, television shows and movies. I haven't even yet read the Larsson "Girl" trilogy, although my sister gave it to me two years ago. Even most American or British crime shows don't interest me, although I am an avid fan of Law & Order. Also, I went to see this movie without knowing anything about it. Haven't read the book. I didn't even know it was a Swedish movie. Even so, I thought it was OK. You might too.

• watchable, with flaws

  ssto2013-02-10

  i thought the movie was quite good while watching it. it is a nice thriller, with suspense to the very end. somewhat strange motivations of the main villain, but then you probably cannot really connect to insane motives. it was kind of strange that while the hypnotist's character was well developed, with character history and family environment, the other main character - the cop, was very under-developed. apart from this and a few weak moments that every decent thriller carries in order to support the storyline, it is a pretty good production