.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

Forty years ago, a beautiful young blonde girl from a wealthy bloodline and family disappeared. Her body was never recovered. Convinced that foul play was afoot and that a member of his own presitgous family (Vanger) was responsible, her uncle hires a detective journalist named Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) to investigate the four decade old disappearance and bring peace back to his conscious.

Mikael himself has problems. He has been found guilty of fraud in a subsequent investigative report and has been sentenced to prison. With weeks left before he begins to serve his time, he accepts the job as a means to pass time before imprisonment.

Mikael has been investigated himself by Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), a computer hacker and semi-detective herself that has been hired to follow Mikael and dossier his actions. Lisbeth becomes fascinated with Mikael. She believes him to be innocent of the charges of his conviction and her subsequent follow up in pursuit prompts her to continue to hack Mikael's computer files. It is here that she is able to view Mikael's investigation into the missing Harriet Vanger and she offers clarity in clues left behind by Harriet in a personal diary.

When Mikael deduces that his computer has been hacked and he connects with Lisbeth, he offers her a job in assisting in the investigation and the two soon set up shop in a cottage on a remote island on the Vanger estate.

Their investigation will lead them through many revelations including the recognition of a serial killer that has been ritually brutalizing women for over forty years.

This is the primary story behind Män som hatar kvinnor, or (as we know it), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a complex and detailed mystery based on the bestselling novel by Stieg Larsson.

This Swedish gem directed by Niels Arden Oplev is already being fast tracked in Hollywood as a vehicle for David Fincher (with further rumors of Kristen Stewart taking the role of Lisbeth) and it is no surprise. The film is expertly crafted and is just as much a mystery as it is a character study into the two leads.

Lisbeth is the girl with the dragon tattoo. She has had a troubled life as is revealed throughout the film. But her existing circumstances could hardly be more dire. The new social worker attached to her probation is a sadist that forces Lisbeth into sexual acts with threats of fabricating a report that would send her back to a psychiatric hospital. The rape occurring in his home is graphic and tough to watch and as Lisbeth limps back home, it's hard not to feel compassion for this troubled soul that dresses goth and has a dragon tattoo running the length of her back.

When Lisbeth takes revenge on her rapist, you almost want to stand up and cheer. That is if the punishment she inflicts upon him doesn't feel equally unbearable.

The back story of Lisbeth and the circumstances surrounding Mikael's situation account for the first 60 minutes of the two plus hours running time. In fact, a good one third of the film is exhausted before the two characters become aware and begin to work on the Vanger case.

When they do, the dots are easily connected. Easy for an audience anyway. Dates, records and family history aide them in their search for the truth. As Mikael examines the last known photos of Harriet, he scans them into his computer and runs them over and over again like the Zapruder Kennedy assassination reel.

His obsession will eventually lead him to the truth, but at a lost. Mikael will unveil a world of sexual deviance. One of torture and beheadings. There is a murderer in his midst and Mikael is close enough to be threatened (even shot) but not near enough to give up the search.

Superbly acted by the two leads and intricate in its detailing of characters, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was a wonderful thriller in the vein of Tell No One and Crimson Rivers. It will captivate, enthrall and repulse you (sometimes all at once), in its various reveals and developments and is worth seeking out in those areas of the country that are lucky enough to have it screened.