Jackpot

Though it hasn’t aged very well, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels was a bit of a blast when it came out in 1998. However, it also left a bit of an unfortunate legacy in its wake, that of a couple of years of (mainly) British films of a similar ilk that were all awful. So, what’s this got to do with the latest film based on a work from Jo Nesbo? Well, Jackpot feels like one of those barrel scrapers from 1999, imbued as it is with grossly exaggerated characters, poor acting and a silly script. On the surface though it looks like it should pass the time OK, what with a mysterious opening scene of gun based carnage and a story of how one man (Oscar) awoke underneath a dead stripper, shotgun in hand surrounded by numerous bodies. However, this is a below par Tarantino / Coen mash up which tries to be smart, but is just incomprehensibly stupid. It’s disappointing as this had the potential to be a bit of fun. Told using a flashback structure there is a bit of mystery as to what has actually happened, but any intrigue or doubt is lost as the wimpy Oscar is hardly Keyser Soze when it comes to spinning a tale. Plus, even though it’s in Norwegian, Henrik Mestad hamming it up as the wide eyed police detective on Oscar’s case is one of the worst performances of the year. Actually, make that last year, as though this was initially released in Norway in December 2011 it’s only just now surfacing in the rest of Europe. This is to cash in on the recent success of Headhunters ( also Nesbo) and the overall trend for gorging on anything scandi-crime related. Therefore, this will probably still draw a bit of a crowd, but in terms of quality it misses the target by quite a margin.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Despite the current rage for all things Nordic, this finds itself coming to the party 15 years too late. Rating: 4/10.