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 rutal
Incasso" is a low budget film from
Denmark
which takes a wacky look at the lives of two
incompetent gangster henchmen. To be honest, it's
difficult to imagine any viewer feeling
particularly enthusiastic over the prospect of yet
another such would be action comedy, most of which
turn out to far outreach their grasp, being
self-obsessed and more concerned with being hip
than actually entertaining. In the face of such
decidedly unappealing prospects, "Brutal
Incasso" turns out to be better than
expected, being surprisingly well made, amiable
enough and mercifully free of pretension.
Unfortunately, such qualities are not quite enough
to lift the film from mediocrity, mainly due to
the hit and miss nature of the jokes and the
overwhelming fact that the world of cinema is
already desperately overpopulated by similar
efforts.
Right from the start, the
plot is instantly recognisable, as the viewer is
introduced to Jim (Claus Lund) and Michael (Kim
Sonderholm), a couple of thuggish collection
agents who work for big boss LC. The two go quite
happily about their daily business until an
unfortunate accident leaves them with a corpse on
their hands. Making matters worse, LC decides to
hold them responsible for the money owed by the
dead man, threatening dire consequences should
they fail to pay up. After their psychotic boss
kidnaps their girlfriends to underline his point,
Jim and Michael are forced to turn to Michael's
even crazier brother in an effort to stage a
violent rescue attempt.
The story is fairly
disposable, and "Brutal Incasso"
basically feels like a series of familiar
anecdotes linked by long stretches of dialogue
between the two main characters, and as such
relies quite heavily upon their relationship. On
these modest grounds, it works well enough, as
both men are fairly likeable, although their
conversations become a little repetitive after a
while and many of the jokes, especially those
involving corpse disposal have been heard before.
The problem with having Jim
and Michael as protagonists, and in fact with the
film in general, is that they are simply not
believable as criminals. Neither gives the
impression of being capable of brutality, and come
across as being average sorts who are a little
slow on the uptake. Similarly, none of the
shabbily dressed villains are able to convince,
and offer very little in the way of menace.
Although there are reasonable amounts of black comedy
and violence scattered throughout "Brutal
Incasso", none of it feels genuine or carries
any sense of danger. As a result, and because of
the fact that almost all of its action is
condensed into the final scenes, the film never
succeeds as a crime drama, and offers very little
in the way of thrills or anything visceral.
Matters are not helped by the ill-fitting
soundtrack, which is a mixture of standard heavy
metal and bumbling comedy music. The latter is
especially overused throughout and on several
occasions seriously detracts from the impact of
the scenes, giving them an inappropriate air of
surrealism.
Jonas
Kvist Jensen (who also scripted) directs well on
what is obviously a very low budget, and manages
to include a few scenes with some genuine flair,
especially during the final shootout. "Brutal
Incasso" has a pleasing air of realism,
though this is at odds with the strange, comic
book style gag captions which frequently appear on
screen and which serve no real purpose other than
to annoy and distract the viewer. The special
effects are kept to a minimum, though the
explosions and spraying blood during the finale
are reasonable enough for a film of this budget.
At the end of the day,
"Brutal Incasso" is a film which is far
easier to admire than it is to enjoy. Whilst
credit must be given for the achievement itself,
and for the fact that the film is undeniably well
made, it is simply too bland and unoriginal to
really entertain or leave any kind of lasting
impression. Although such films are obviously
hampered by their low budget and lack of
resources, this is no excuse for what amounts to a
basic lack of imagination and originality in the
script. |
