Cert 15
122 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong violence and hard drug use
Tonight was the latest occasion when I have felt sorry for the film programmers at Showcase Cinemas.
In recent years, the multiplex chain has diverted from a predictable diet of Hollywood blockbusters.
It pioneered the live theatre, music and ballet which are now regular features at all cinemas and, occasionally, it opts for films which appear nowhere else.
Sometimes I have seen its risks come off handsomely (TT3D and The Prodigy live were two such examples) but as often as not the audiences are sparse.
Worse still, tonight at Showcase Cinema De Lux, Derby, half of them (four) disappeared midway through Daniel Espinosa's hard-hitting thriller.
In a way, I understood them because it is a complex movie. But if they had persevered just a little bit longer they would have been rewarded when all of its strands pulled together.
Easy Money surrounds a poor student (Joel Kinnaman) who leads a triple life: in academia, running errands for criminals and conning his way into Stockholm's jet set.
At first, his involvement in crime starts at a low level but he gradually increases in bravado and becomes more and more in need of cash to support his flash lifestyle, which includes a new rich and beautiful girlfriend (Lisa Henni).
But the more he becomes more deeply immersed in the underworld so the danger multiplies.
Easy Money works because it delves into the family story of some of the key participants.
For example, a hardened Serb (Dragomir Mrsic) mellows when he is given custody of his eight-year-old daughter (Lea Stojanov).
As said, it isn't always an easy film but it is worth the effort, especially because of the fact that it has taken three years since release to make it to UK cinema screens.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: yes
Overall rating: 7/10