The Kidnapping of a President

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”no voinhan minä verbaalisesti loukata häntä”same girl, same

Rottamaker2.0

In Finland we call this movie “Perse-Pentin ryyditykseksi.”First thought that came to my mind was that Jussi Vatanen, after the brilliant Fallen Leaves(2023, surely doesn’t get better roles. He is completely wasted, and he is now at just the right age when he should be doing big roles on the big screen.The film's director Samuli Valkama has been a small disappointment to me. I have always seen potential in him, and each of his films has always made me interested. Unfortunately, all of them have turned out to be disappointments.Samuli Valkama clearly has a nose for a good film, but as a filmmaker himself he is not very good. Especially when it comes to the script, the films have been weak. In his defense, though, all of his films have always had a solid dramatic arc. In that regard he is an exception in the Finnish film industry. It’s a shame, because the movie also needs substance, which is missing from every one of his films. He is a maker of entertainment films, but he doesn’t know how to make entertaining movies.On top of that, Samuli Valkama’s films are always badly acted, and the film’s main characters are always a little empty. This movie is no exception. It is a shame that they get almost nothing out of Jussi Vatanen.I am also a bit disappointed that this movie fails, because this was my most anticipated film of the year. I have read a lot about this historical event, and in my opinion it has potential to become a brilliant comedy. It’s a shame that the script feels like the very first draft. In my view the film's starting premises are weakly executed. They do not really get anything out of the amnesia. I do see potential in this screenplay, but it is too loose, and it feels as if they have not really researched the subject. This has been approached like cheap summer theater in your own backyard.I’m also confused about how loosely the characters are directed. It feels like every actor is acting in a different movie. Basically only the characters of K. J. Ståhlberg (Pertti Sveholm) and Ester Ståhlberg (Riitta Havukainen) work, but even their biggest potential is left incomplete. Now it feels like they are performing in some kind of Muppet movie.The plot moves along very dully, and there is a complete lack of tension. Everything just happens. I would have wanted a tighter approach, something built so that something truly bad is actually unfolding in the film. Now the movie feels a bit like a hippie film where everyone just wants to hug the earth. I think Jussi Vatanen could have been genuinely evil, but now he is timid, and his biggest motivation is getting a promotion and winning his wife’s approval, even though a revolution is waiting around the corner.The film was made as a Finnish film with a large budget of 2.5 million, of which the Finnish Film Foundation gave 850,000. The film is set in Joensuu, but it was shot entirely in Estonia.To many Finns, “Joensuu” might seem a bit odd, and it is odd.The film also feels really small, even though it has a budget. Somehow its world feels limited to a few locations. I wonder that the film does not really taste of life. The streets are empty and there are no people anywhere. It is a shame that filmmakers nowadays do not know how to use extras.In summary: A movie with potential and an interesting idea, but it never really takes off and ends up as something like a cheap farce.

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The Hangover Part IV: Joensuu.