Thanks for the memories!

Dreadfully Boring

An action-packed slog

A different way of telling a story

Okay, so I'm late to the game. I had no idea Nordic Noir was a thing. I've been enjoying dark Scandinavian movies like the Millennium Trilogy ('The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,' etc.) for years and am thrilled someone decided to actually categorize them. Yeah, thrilled. Anyway, I caught another one on Netflix the other night—a Danish film with what is probably the worst title ever—'The Keeper of Lost Causes.' I don't know, maybe it sounds better in Danish.Don't let the crappy title fool you, though. This is an outstanding film. And like a Nordic winter, it's cold and spare, with a protagonist who is as dysfunctional and people-averse as they come. I'm not prepared to reveal any spoilers here. Let me just say that, as police procedurals go, this one really stands out. The main character, Carl, is himself dark and unapproachable. But in the best tradition of antiheroes, he is driven to seek out Truth—no matter what that may mean for his languishing career as a homicide detective.This film features the usual cast of Scandinavian loonies—especially the blonde and creepy Lasse—with a wonderfully empathetic performance by Carl's sidekick, Assad who, when asked why he isn't following orders, claims his Danish isn't that good. Nice touch!I can highly recommend this film. Though there's little on-screen violence, it's creepy as hell as sucks you in like a Scottish peat bog. And here's the best part: Netflix also has the two 'Department Q' sequels, 'The Absent One' and 'A Conspiracy of Faith,' both which I plan to catch very soon.

'The Keeper of Lost Causes' is neither the first nor the last crime drama you'll see featuring a bad-tempered, middle-aged cop nurturing personal suffering and who plays by nobody's rules but his own. But it loses additional points for its ridiculous villain, with his implausible motivations and his Dr. Evil-like plan to murder his victim, which predictably is foiled only at the final moment. The weird thing here is that the tone of the drama is down-to-earth, realistic, yet the crime is almost comically preposterous (and the story of how the hero uncovers the truth scarcely less so). It's definitely not the finest hour of "Scandi-Noir".

Cause it feels like the beginning of a great police drama, and I found out as I was leaving the theater that I saw this in, that This movie was one in a trilogy called Department Q, and The Keeper of Lost Causes makes me want to see the other two so badly.Carl is one of those types of police detectives who is so driven by finding justice and solving the case that he has isolated all the other hard working but worn out police detectives, and when his last Homicide case ends with both him and his partner getting shoot, he's forced into desk duty in the basement tending to cold cases. The first case he tries to close was a familiar case he feels did not go down the way it's written and needs to be solved. I have to admit, that sometimes when you see a gritty cop drama with one minded police officers like Carl, you tend to get just as annoyed with him as everyone else in the film, but I did not feel that way about Carl. Maybe it was the actor or the fact that it was subtitled, but I like the character from the beginning.I also was a fan of the the supporting actor, his partner Assad. It was the perfect miss match as a young cop tried of his old position and just wants to do something more substantial versus Carl who feels like Department Q is where cops go to wait for retirement.The case in itself was a good one too. Just how the information was laid out was interesting, and easy to follow. Gave a sense that you were solving the case right along with them.The picture also displays the proper mood using very gritty colors and lighting to give a cold case feel.I definitely recommend The Keeper of Lost Causes, it's one of the best police dramas I've seen on the big screen, and I can't wait to see the rest of the Department Q series.

I rented this movie because I like the actors who play the protagonists. However, the film is boring simply because it is edited in such a way that very early on the film shows you what happened to the missing woman. Why bother watching the rest? ***spoilers below*** So, the filmmakers genuinely expect us to watch how two policemen find a woman, who was presumed dead a few years back, but we know she is hidden in a tank by a psychopath. Great. The movie trots on, and when the policemen are about to find her, we see a "management summary" of how evil the guy is, who is keeping her in a tank (as if that were not enough). We see how he killed an old pal and abused someone in his orphanage, etc. But there is no clue as to why this guy is so crazy, why he hurt so many people, why he chose her for this form of torture. So in the end, I don't even freaking care about the whole plot. Yes, the policemen found a woman who was suffering and no one else would have found her, had they not been so stubborn... But, really? That is ALL the film has to offer? This has been done a hundred times with much more suspense and allure, why bother with this old bore? I wouldn't watch it again if I got paid for it! Note for parents: At the video store where I got the film, it was rated for children 6 years and up. I disagree entirely, this movie is not a children's movie.