Let the Right One In - 2008 * *

Why why why are people raving about this film after 2 years? In fact why did they rave about it when it first came out?? I tried to watch this film last year and gave up early on but recently I felt that I maybe misjudged it and should give it another go and so a few nights ago I did. And I felt exactly the same, except for the fact that I had to deal with the whole film this time as opposed to just a 1/4 of it. What was Tomas Alfredson thinking? Except for the haunting backdrop of the continuously freezing Swedish winter I really couldn't find anything of credit to excite me. The film circles around Oskar, a bullied and timid boy who spends his days at school being a target for horrible pranks and jokes amoung his classmates and his nights reading up on knives and murder weapons, hoping against hope that one day he will be able to put them to use.

One evening he meets the mysteriously and other-worldly Eli who can't eat or stand the sunlight. Gradually the pair form a bond that is to carry them through the ups and downs of the next few months.

Sounds like a good story? Well I thought so as well, but it's not the case, as the film moves so slowly that you can actually wander off to make a cuppa and come back to find you haven't missed a thing. Very little really happens for most of the film, but when it does happen it all happens at once in a sort of 'blink and you've missed it' pattern which leaves you feeling very dissatisfied and empty. Added to which the blossoming relationship between Oskar and Eli is not realistic at all, and you find yourself wondering if there is actually supposed to be any kind of chemistry, because they both act around each other like they are complete strangers.

I seriously don't understand the worldwide acclaim and excitement going for this movie and think that if audiences are really captivated by a story like this then the current state of film is in real trouble.

PS please don't start thinking I am someone who needs over the top action or violence to enjoy a film, (hence my long list of reviews already completed) but when a film is so incredibly slow and the acting is so wooden there is very little else I can think.