Change Your Image
stefischneider
Reviews
Bronx (2020)
Confused
The good: beautiful cinematography, dark, gritty atmosphere contrasted with the sunny seaside environment. Gory, hardcore action scenes.
The bad: almost all characters are übermacho middle-aged men in dark clothing and no personality whatsoever. For me it made it impossible to follow the plot. At no point of the movie had I any idea who is who, who is shooting at whom and why, and generally what is happening. On the plus side at least I can't give you a spoiler.
The balance: if you are exceptionally good at keeping 30 French men's names in mind and linking them to nearly identical characters then maybe you will have a better time than I did. Otherwise don't bother.
Beck: Rum 302 (2015)
Standard issue detective drama with question marks
Not as "noir" as many contemporary Swedish detective shows but still quite an enjoyable, slightly old-school whodunit. Compared to other Swedish shows the family situations and personal relationships are a tad less disturbed, the alcohol and other addictions under control, the main characters generally older and slower, the murder not so cunningly sadistic, the sun often shines, not all scenes are at night, there is no political connection or direct threat to the detectives themselves. This is also what gives the show the charm that makes it a pleasant weekday evening Netflix session if you are too tired to read Schopenhauer.
SPOILER ALERT
Unfortunately the episode ends with a massive anticlimax. The killer is very easily linked to the victim, yet takes no attempt at hiding the body, changing the scene, removing or preventing obvious clues pointing to him or fleeing the police. He is captured while he is sitting at the police station, during a slow moving conversation where he makes almost no effort to stop this from happening and just admits. The gigantic yawn induced by this turn of events almost broke my jaw. Other than that, a good show, I'll probably watch the rest of the episodes too.