The 101 Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared ~ Non-Spoiler Review

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Image shows photo montage of scenes from The 101 Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared. Central photo is the theatrical poster for the movie


🇸🇪 The 101-Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared 🇸🇪

The 101 Year-Old Man Who Skipped Out on the Bill and Disappeared (2016) hereafter referred to as The 101 Year-Old Man, is a Swedish Comedy, Crime movie on Netflix. 1 hr 48 mins. In Swedish, Russian, German and English with subtitles available. 15 Cert U.K.

Cast:

Robert Gustafsson as Allan Karlsson
Iwar Wiklander as Julius Jonsson
David Wiberg as Benny
Jens Hultén as Geddan
Shima Niavarani as Miriam
Svetlana Rodina Ljungkvist as Kristina
Ralph Carlsson as Inspector Aronsson
Jay Simpson as Baz
Erik Stern as HĂĄkan
Georg Nikoloff as Popov
Colin McFarlane as CIA Agent Seth
David Schaal as CIA Boss
Caroline Boulton as Janet
Crystal the Monkey as Erlander

Crew:

Director: Felix Herngren & MĂĄns Herngren
Cinematographer: Göran Hallberg
Writer: MĂĄns Herngren, Felix Herngren & Hans Ingemansson in association with Jonas Jonasson
Editor: Henrik Källberg
Make-Up: Eva Von Bahr & Love Larson
Set Design: Mikael Varhelyi

Premise:

“The 101 year-old man Allan Karlsson goes through Europe in search for a Russian soda recipe he lost during the early 70s. Unfortunately, he is not the only one who is looking for it.” IMDB

Notes:

This movie serves as a sequel to The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared (2013). This first film was based on the best-selling novel of the same name written by Jonas Jonasson.

Many will recognise Robert Gustafsson as not only one of Sweden’s leading comedians but also as a straight actor in TV shows such as The Truth Will Out and he will lead in the upcoming The Unlikely Murder (Netflix).

Jens Hultén has been in Hassel, Johan Falk, and is in Baskström. Rolf Carlsson played Larry in Alex, and was in Farang. Away from Scandinavia Colin McFarlane is a familiar face (and voice) in the U.K. from Outlander to The Little Princess. George Nikoloff, who is Bulgarian by birth, played the detective Dimitri Skurov in Moscow Noir and was also in the original 100 Year-Old Man movie.

Review:

Having watched a number of heavy and somewhat harrowing films recently I thought this movie would be the ideal antidote… I was not wrong. Is it the best comedy I have ever watched? No. It is not. However it does have a lot of heart and inside the humour there are some important messages.

It has a great international cast and I loved the use of multiple languages. For a moment I did think my basic Swedish had improved immensely, but then I realised they had started speaking German. The various locations and characters are appealing.

This is not a film to watch if you do not like silly humour, because silly humour abounds. We have hilarious rides through packed streets, fights on trains, climbing in and out of windows (of course). There were parts where I was groaning “Noooo!” and others where I cackled out loud (emphasis on the loud). The comedic timing is really good in this and bravo to the editor for not killing it on the cutting room floor.

I suspect the cast had a LOT of fun making this movie, perhaps less so for Robert Gustafsson who had to have his face “made” every day (see video link at the end).

The scene of Allan’s acid trip all those years before is both risqué and funny. As is the hunt for formula in a rather beautiful German apartment.

Allan Carlsson has clearly not lost his touch with the ladies over the years and he definitely gets 101% for trying. The passing query, “Are you single?” To a lady in bed as he wanders through her bedroom is hilarious, even more so by her reaction.

As per usual for many Scandinavian films there is an amount of nudity, so if that’s not your thing…

The 101 Year-Old Man is definitely worth the watch if you want to brighten up your day.

Awards:

Guldbagge Awards (2017) Audience Prize
Guldbagge Awards (2017) Best Visual Effects
Also nominated at the Guldbagge Awards for: Best Film, Best Direction, Best Editing, Best Supporting Actor (Iwar Wiklander), Best Supporting Actress (Svetlana Rodina Ljungkvist), Best Make-Up & Best Set Design

Trailer (in Swedish, some English and Russian spoken):

https://youtu.be/Y8KhLGSoE9Q

📼 Video of Robert Gustafsson having his prosthetic make-up applied:

For those who are fans of Nordic/Scandi TV shows and films there is a great affiliated Facebook Page:

https://m.facebook.com/manvelovTheofficialfanpage/

This online publication also has its own Facebook Page with a wide variety of content: 

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Other Links:

The Day Will Come: Netflix ~ Non-Spoiler Review

Winter Brothers: Prime Video ~ Non-Spoiler Review

Sami Blood: Prime Video ~ Non-Spoiler Review

The Last King: Prime Video ~ Non-Spoiler Review

The Guilty: Prime~ Non-Spoiler Review

Stockholm (The Captor): Prime ~ Non-Spoiler Review

Cadaver: Netflix ~ Non-Spoiler Review

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A Royal Affair: Netflix ~ Non-Spoiler Review

The 12th Man: Netflix ~ Non-Spoiler Review

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1 Comment

  1. I enjoyed the first film very much. As I recall, It led me along another path of European-made films to see.

    I’ll definitely watch this soon,
    needing a break from oft-pervading doom!

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