Looking Forward To: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I liked Steig Larsson's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo but admittedly, I found it a little top-heavy with exposition and a dense family tree. I haven't seen any of the Swedish films with Noomi Rapace but I am looking forward to David Fincher's version of the novel, released on December 21. I like Fincher and feel he's the perfect choice for this film. I wouldn't label him a serial killer film director, nor label The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as a serial killer novel. But with films like Seven and Zodiac he's shown himself very good at creating uncomprosing portraits of villainy and obsession, two factors very crucial to the novel. There's also a procedural element to the novel. In Zodiac, Fincher was able to take a story all about procedure and exposition and make it exciting cinema.

I'm also excited to see what Roony Mara does in the role of Lisbeth Salander. This is the most challenging she's had to date and judging by David Denby's controversial review of the film, you can't take your eyes off her. I think Daniel Craig will be solid as Mikael Blomkvist and it's always nice to see fellow Canadian Christopher Plummer.

It'll be interesting to see if the film can be a part of the Oscar race. Fincher joked there was too much anal rape for it to win any Oscars. But to be fair, if the academy can nominate Black Swan, with Mila Kunis going down on Natalie Portman, and The Silence of the Lambs, it's not too much of a stretch that they can nominate this film.