"A thrilling, stylish action film, the film has taken a while to get to us, but is certainly worth waiting for"

Action as a genre so often has directors succumbing to cheap tricks to grip an audience, it’s a real joy to see when a superbly constructed, exciting film (with a real-life bank robber) comes along.

Released in Sweden in 2010, Easy Money (Snabba Cash) has finally made its way to the UK. A thrilling, stylish action film, the film has taken a while to get to us, but is certainly worth waiting for.

JW is living a lie. His life is defined by meticulously trying to keep up the pretence that he is as wealthy as his yuppie friends. When fate brings around an opportunity for him to make enough money to achieve at least a portion of his desired status (and to impress the beautiful Sophie), JW can’t turn it down, and plunges in to a criminal underworld that leaves him further isolated. Fate comes in the form of Jorge, a criminal on the run from the Serbian Mafia, who needs a good hiding place and an unlikely accomplice. Hot on the tail of Jorge is Mrado, a gang boss whose conscience is catching up with him after having the responsibility of being a father thrust upon him by his drug addicted ex-partner, and his young, trusting daughter.

The sheer brilliance of the film lies first and foremost with the performances. Matias Verala’s brooding, aloof Jorge moulds well with Joel Kinnaman’s awkward, sweet and very likeable JW. Mrado, played by reformed bank robber Dragomir Mrsic manages to avoid soppy sentimentality and instead brings real humanity to the role.

Whilst many action film directors find it hard to strike a balance between exciting action scenes and solid story-telling, Espinosa allows the human element of the film to really drive the action. Rather than using actors as cannon fodder for easy thrills, Espinosa uses three very flawed, unenviable characters, with no real hero for the audience to aspire to. Every character is trying to escape a situation that they got themselves in to by either greed or foolishness, and there is a real heart behind the film that is lacking in so many other tiresome action films. That’s not to say that there is no action of course, but the action is well thought out, and brings about real excitement as opposed to a temporary and easily achievable buzz.

The film is certainly Swedish in its style, and has the same, distinctive slickness other Swedish films of the genre (Headhunters, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and will most certainly reach the same success. Why it’s taken so long to have a UK release is anyone guess, though with a sequel already released in Sweden and a third to soon be released, we can hopefully expect more of the same from Espinosa and the cast.