The Kiss of Evil (2011)

The Kiss of Evil (2011). 1h 34m

“The Scandinavian u0026quot;Mysteryu0026quot; genre is amazing. There are astonishingly good series that come out of Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland. u0026quot;Private Eye Varesu0026quot; is one of them. And it is one of the best. A number of u0026quot;moviesu0026quot; in this series were made starting in 2011 (theyu0026#39;re hard to find on IMDb; look for them under lead actor Antti Reini; someone else played Vares prior to Reini — Iu0026#39;ve not seen those). A new movie is in the works, apparently, as I write this in 2014.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThese are very, very noir, very hard-boiled, down to the Sam Spade-like voice-over in first-person narrative (is it me? I could listen to the sound of Antti Reiniu0026#39;s voice endlessly — although I donu0026#39;t understand a word of Finnish). Itu0026#39;s a modern-day Dashiell Hammett. But there is also a lot of humor here, and the humor translates well for the English-speaking audience. Thereu0026#39;s really nothing more fun to watch than Antti Reini as Jussi Vares. But letu0026#39;s not stop there, all the actors — all the characters — are wonderful. Jussiu0026#39;s band of brothers includes a former pastor who now owns a bookstore (Pastori Alanen, played by Matti Onnismaa), a writer of bad fiction novels (Juhani Luusalmi, played by Eppu Salminen), a tabloid journalist (Ruuhio, played by Mikko Leppilampi), and a police homicide investigator (Komisario Markku Hautavainio, played by Ilkka Heiskanen). Theyu0026#39;re mostly a group of adorable, loyal, well-meaning, and clever, if scuzzy, drunks. I especially enjoy Inspector Hautavainio.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOther equally captivating characters come and go… like Anna (played by Maria Järvenhelmi), sheu0026#39;s Jussiu0026#39;s neighbor — a taxi driver by day, a pole dancer at night. And letu0026#39;s not forget u0026quot;Antidoteu0026quot; (played by the wonderful Jasper Pääkkönen) — who seems like a creepy, small-time crook, but is still sympathetically appealing.. and maybe not as bad as he seems. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe stories are complicated, challenging, and often surprising. Iu0026#39;ll be up front that they can be quite violent. But Reini is so endearing as the lead character, I put up with the brutality. Vares is tough, but sweet (he loves cats!), and smart… Heu0026#39;s so very smart. And… letu0026#39;s face it… heu0026#39;s incredibly sexy. He seems like a winner, but has a whiff of a loser about him. His relationships donu0026#39;t seem to last. So heu0026#39;s complicated and ambiguous. And maybe not the kind of guy you really want to bring home. Or… maybe he is….u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s a dark world that Vares and his pals occupy. But they are fun to watch!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd the music! The music is amazing, in movie after movie it mesmerizes. I especially enjoyed the soundtracks in Tango of Darkness and The Path of Righteous Men. Who wouldu0026#39;ve known the Finnish are gaga for Tango? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThanks to MHz Worldview International Mystery for airing these. And making them available on DVD. http://www.mhznetworks.org/programs/mystery-drama”