Film Review: Easy Money
Adapted from the novel of the same name by Jens Lapidus, Easy Money is a serpentine Nordic thriller about an enterprising social climber, whose desire to gatecrash Sweden’s social elite eventually lands him in hot water.
Johan Westlund (Joel Kinnaman), known as JW to his friends, is a student at the Stockholm School of Economics, who moonlights as a taxi driver in the evenings to finance an expensive fake lifestyle as a fashion-conscious entrepreneur and playboy.
At one lavish party, he meets beautiful and rich socialite Sophie (Lisa Henni), who is already in a relationship with Carl (Christian Hillborg).
As luck would have it, Carl’s father is on the board of an investment bank that is in financial trouble so JW uses his charm and academic knowledge to propose a bail-out to save the ailing business.
Meanwhile, Abdulkarim (Mahmut Suvakci), who runs the taxi firm, introduces JW to a lucrative, yet illegal, new line of work: delivering cocaine.
As JW sinks deeper into the mire, he crosses paths with crime boss Radovan Kranjic (Dejan Cukic) and hit man Mrado Slovovic (Dragomir Mrsic), who puts a bullet in the head of anyone who dares to cross him.
An English language remake starring Zac Efron has already been announced.