The worldwide phenomenon of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series has landed on Hollywood in the form of David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. While not without its story problems, Fincher's take on the material is another deftly executed package, loaded with tantalizing sights and sounds. There is a lot here to enjoy (and a whopping two hours and 38 minutes to enjoy it in), but brilliantly intriguing story -- or Oscar-winning Best Picture -- this, unfortunately, is not.
The story begins with Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist on the skids after a libel case guts him of his life savings and professional credibility. Like an angel descending from heaven, a lawyer played by Steven Berkoff arrives with an offer Blomkvist can't refuse. The defamed journalist is to play Sherlock Holmes for the lawyer's billionaire client Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) and get to the bottom of a decades old family murder mystery plaguing Vanger's conscience. Things start to get interesting when Blomkvist requests a research assistant, who arrives in the form of Rooney Mara's brilliant and beautifully-damaged Lisbeth Salander. The titular heroine shows up on her speeding motorcycle with a tractor trailer worth of personal baggage in tow.
At Dragon Tattoo's heart is a whodunnit mystery. The problem here is that screenwriter Steven Zaillian refuses to tell the story that way. The audience is kept at too far a distance from the details of the mystery. Instead, we are forced to be content watching our dual protagonists piece together the case, never fully privy to what the evidence represents. Without the ability to form hypotheses and jump to conclusions, Zaillian has neutered himself of one of his biggest weapons: misdirection. The result is a dull story that leaves the audience struggling to engage.
These frustrations are only further aggravated by the story's two-protagonist structure. This is, again, a systemic issue and not the fault of Craig or Mara, whose performances are top notch. However, Mara's Salander, arguably the main character, is just too extreme to relate to. She's a self-admitted sociopath with a viciously violent streak and a go-fuck-yourself disposition -- not the easiest character to empathize with. Craig's Blomkvist, on the other hand, is ultimately too feeble. While we're told he's pretty good at what he does, there's never much doubt that he'll need to rely heavily on Salander when the final act rolls around. As interesting as both characters might be, it's difficult to really get inside either one -- again putting the audience too much on the outside.
These criticisms notwithstanding, Dragon Tattoo is still a very impressive project. Great turns by Stellan Skarsgård, Christopher Plummer, and Robin Wright join those by Craig and Mara. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is another brilliant work to add to their increasingly daunting resume. And Fincher's direction is again second to none. This film exhibits the same level of polished detail that we've come to expect from Fincher and yearn for from just about every other director working today.
Fans of the book and the original Swedish films should be quite pleased with the adaptation, as I imagine these same story issues were present prior to this version. Having read or seen none of the film's predecessors, I was quite simply a bit disappointed. This is a very well-made movie with one big problem: it's based on a very mediocre story.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens wide across the U.S. on Wednesday, December 21.
THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2011) Review