Pulpmovies Reviews

Jim (Claus Lund) and Michael (Kim Sønderholm) are a pair of enforcers for LC (Allan Hotchkiss), a loan shark, and – it has to be said – they’re not the most competent gangsters in the world. On top of that, Michael is suffering one or two relationship problems.

It’s probably not entirely surprising, therefore, that they’re thinking about a change of career.

Things come to a head when a slightly distracted Michael accidentally kills a client. LC still wants the money he’s owed and Jim and Michael suddenly find themselves in a lot of trouble…

I really enjoyed Brutal Incasso. It’s not the deepest, or the most original story every written, but the film takes a straightforward idea and runs with it, confidently and very entertainingly, for an hour and a half.

The filmmakers have clearly been influenced by Quentin Tarantino – and they explicitly pay homage to both Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs – in their seeking to find humour in the mundanities of the lives of minor criminals.

Brutal Incasso is packed with moments – both visual and verbal - that had me laughing out loud. The characters are suitably rounded and brought to life well enough that you are able to believe in them enough to be able to see the comedy in their predicament.

But (and we’re back to the Tarantino influence here) this is not just a comedy – the plot also attempts to inject a level of pathos into the proceedings. And successfully so - not only do Claus Lund and Kim Sønderholm give us believable characters, but they also manage to make Jim and Michael characters you can care about.

Much of the drama of the film depends on the relationship between the two men. These two characters have known each other since school and have clearly been through a lot together. And it’s apparent that their mutual loyalty has been a significant part of their survival so far.

So when the chips are down, and Jim starts to feel that his loyalty to Michael is putting both himself and his girlfriend at risk, and when he’s offered an easy way out, he finds himself on the horns of a genuine dilemma.

This is where the strength of the acting really pays off. We can see exactly what Jim is going through, and can empathise with him, without his saying a word. In fact, the acting throughout is never less than solid, giving the film the essential air of realism that holds the story together.

It is very difficult to strike a balance between drama and comedy – all too often, the two sides conflict with rather than complement each other and you end up with a film that is neither dramatic nor funny.

However, with Brutal Incasso Jonas Kvist Jensen, Claus Lund and Kim Sønderholm do strike this balance very successfully, and deliver a dark, funny and genuinely entertaining film which effectively weaves together all the mundanity, idiocy, drama, violence and humour that surrounds the lives of two small time gangsters.

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