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| GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, THE (2011)
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SBD Star Rating:
by Chiara Adorno
View Credits | See Other Reviews
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has received somewhat mixed but ultimately solid reviews from critics. Directed by David Fincher (The Social Network) and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy by Stieg Larsson, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon. The film is a mystery thriller and begins at the point in which a well-known journalist, (Daniel Craig) is convicted of libel and must pay dearly financially. He is contacted by an industrial magnate, Henrik Vanger (played by Christopher Plummer), to investigate the murder of a niece some 40 years previously. We are introduced to Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara), a master computer hacker and private investigator who is hired by Vanger as well. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone remarks that expectations are high for Fincher and what he brings is "a faithful adaptation that brings the dazzle but shortchanges on the daring.... gloriously rendered but too impersonal to leave a mark." Mark Rabinowitz of CNN praises Fincher for delivering a "top-notch thriller that looks likely to give Niels Arden Oplev's original a run for its money, even among its fans.... Mara is nothing short of brilliant, deserving every bit of acclaim thrown her way." Eric Snider Film.com laments however, "While this is clearly a David Fincher creation, with the images meticulously composed, the violence shocking but clinical, and the Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross musical score suitably dispassionate, the director never finds a way to make it his own." Finally, J. Hoberman of The Village Voice is appreciative of Fincher's "high-powered, stylish and deftly directed affair" however, observes that, "the movie is less a walk on the wild side than an evening stroll through a well-lit topiary garden." |
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