The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I finally sat down and saw the first in the Swedish trilogy.  I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  Now I know.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a Swedish film done with subtitles all the way through, there is no English spoken.   I have no problem with that, some of my favorite films are foreign language (Amelie, A Beautiful Life, The Devils Backbone).  However, other than Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist, I"d never heard of the other actors, they are all Swedish actors.  Most of them are relatively unknown, but this has catapulted them to stardom.  The leads have a long career in front of them, it wouldn't surprise me if Rapace gets picked to be the next Bond girl.
  The story is about a girl who went missing 40 years ago.  Her uncle wants to know what happened, so he hires disgraced magazine editor Mikael Blomkvist (Nyqvist) to find out what really took place.  This is just what Blomkvist needs as he claims he was set up by another for a crime he didn't commit and wants to hide from the public till his trial takes place.  Meanwhile, his story catches the eye of troubled computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, an odd girl with a genius mind (and a Dragon Tattoo that literally covers her entire back and part of her left leg).  She has a photographic memory and can find her away around a computer like you wouldn't believe.  She finds out what Mikael is investigating, hacks into his computer, and cracks a code that hasn't been solved in 40 years. 
  She sends the info to him and he finds her.  They form a partnership and friendship as they work together to solve this case.  This will take them down a dark path to an even darker conclusion. 
  This is a very complex thriller, I'm not even scratching the surface as the movie has so many layers.  It's exciting, engaging, and hard to look away from.  I haven't read the book so I don't know how close it is, but as it is, it's one good film.  The actors have a great connection on screen and they are developed well, so you actually care about them.  This proves that you can make a good exciting thriller without robots or Megan Fox (please, make her go away.)!
  It is rated R for language, violence, and nudity.  Be warned, it deserved it.  There is some graphic nudity and there is some very disturbing violence.  The language isn't too bad, just rough in spots.
  Even still, if you can look past that, it's easily one of the best films from last year, I can't wait to see part 2.  The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo gets a solid brick road.  4 out of 4 bricks for Oscar Worthy The Girl.