THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Year: 2011
Rated R
Genre: Book-to-Movie, Detective, Murder Mystery, Thriller
Language: English
​Runtime: 2:38:00
Director: David Fincher
Main Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara ☆​, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skargård, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen

Notable Mention: Rooney Mara as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on my 21st birthday. I saw the film with a friend. At the time, I thought that was the most hard core film. It was violent. It got nudity. I felt like a grown up. Watching the film a second time at the age of 34, I was numb to the film. It's a well-told story, a well-made movie. It just didn't hit the same the second time around.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo lacked style. The delivery of the film was safe. There weren't any artistic risks. In Memories of Murder, there is this scene, a woman is walking down a dirt path in the rain. There are tall grass on either side of the path. She's singing. A voice starts to whistle along to the song. Frightened, the woman turns around, carefully surveils her surrounding. When the woman is looking in a different direction, a blurred figure pokes out above the tall grass, then ducks under. It was like finding Waldo. If you weren't paying attention, you'd miss the blurred figure in the background. For those who were paying attention, for me, noticing the presumed killer hidden in the tall grass, it was exhilarating, in the worst kind of way. Run girl, run! When I say style, artistic risk, I mean this.

Safe isn't bad. Safe is better than risks that fail. David Fincher played safe. He crafted The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo within his comfort zone. Nothing wrong with that. While safe is better than risks that fail, low risk, low reward. What's better than safe? Risks that succeed.

Today is April 16, 2025. I recently saw the Swedish The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Sometime in life you need a little comparison. You don't appreciate excellence until you're left with mediocrity. I'm talking about Rooney Mara. I didn't appreciate what Rooney Mara did in this film until I saw her counterpart's performance in the Swedish version. Noomi Rapace wore make up. So did Rooney Mara. But Rooney Mara did not let the make up, the edgy haircut, the piercings be the whole character. Rooney Mara gave a nuanced portrayal of a wild woman toughened through trauma, who is extremely intelligent, but socially awkward. Every expression, movement is that character. There is this scene in the Swedish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Noomi Rapace figured out Harriet's code. She sent an email to Mikael. Before she hit send, she made this cute whatever-I'll-just-send-it expression. Lisbeth Salander would never. Rooney Mara would not have acted that way. Because that's not Lisbeth Salander's personality. Noomi Rapace gave a performance that made me believe she did not study, understand, or care about the character she was playing. She made Rooney Mara look so good.

Mar. 15, 25. Apr. 17, 25.