Swedish Auto (2006)

Admirable film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

If you wonder what to do on a rainy night, then this might be just right. It is a slow, calm love story about two small town lonely souls. She is a waitress in a diner, he is a mechanic. They both lost their way and don't know how to communicate with people anymore. She - because is being abused by her father, and he- because he lost his family in a car accident. Eventually they overcome their fear of trusting someone - they start actually talking about their lives and fears and realize you can only fall in love with someone you know. Watching your life from a distance isn't a good option. You have to start living it, even in small portions. This said, the movie has its pro's and contra's: Pro's: - It is not overwhelmingly romantic cliché kind of love story. The actors make their characters very believable. Plus, you can really feel for them. The script is actually not surprising, but that doesn't mean its bad. It seems sincerely enough to intrigue you. Contra's: - It is a bit slow on places. Plus, I am a girl and even I can tell you Lukas Haas doesn't know a thing about cars (and he is playing a car mechanic, I mean - its not like a rocket science. He should have prepared better). The other thing I didn't like was the ending- its kind of a very corny, unreal ending to a very realistic and pragmatic view of the life of those people. It seems to me they didn't know how to end it, so they chose the easy way- but it just doesn't fit the whole movie. This said, as a whole the movie is a good debut of the director, Lukas Haas shows one more time he is a very good actor with lot of potential (that's why I like most of his movies!)and January Jones is very very very believable. She doesn't overact, which often happens when a beautiful actress has to play some small town "normal" girl.

I attended the East Coast premiere of "Swedish Auto" at the Woodstock Film Festival. I knew precious little about this film going in, and that's often best, because it means that one can be surprised but never disappointed. And what a sweet surprise this was. Carter (Lukas Haas) spends day after monotonous day as a mechanic in a local Swedish auto repair shop. Every 24 hours are the same, as are the faces which he sees from morning until night. Leroy (Lee Weaver) and his son Bobby (Chris Williams) run the shop. Darla (January Jones) serves up lunch at the local sandwich shop. And there's Ann (Brianne Davis), the gifted young violinist whom Carter stalks nightly. Hmm...was that a double take on your part? Well, perhaps "stalks" is a bit harsh, but there's really no other word for it. After all, Carter lives on the other side of the tracks (literally -- he has to step over them to get past his door) and fair maidens don't often cross his path. Meanwhile, Darla is secretly watching him in his nightly travels. This voyeuristic setup is the stuff of which mysteries are made. But this is far from it. Love triangle? Not quite. For this is truly an original film that has indie written all over it, in both style and substance, and has elements of drama and comedy and wonder and twists and turns galore. In short, life itself.If you love indies you'll smile as the opening credits roll. Shot in 1.85:1, you know this will be a character-driven film all the way. No widescreen pretensions here. Using mostly natural lighting and a grainy film stock, "Swedish Auto" has the look of a home movie, in only the most complimentary sense. The characters are always softly lit to allow the acting to shine through. The sweet violin-based score is just sparse enough, yet always just appropriate enough, to know when to stay out of the way. Dialogue is kept to a minimum, especially in the early character development. Those three elements force a focus on these young folks' faces, and so much of this script is told through Haas and Jones' incredibly expressive eyes. What a casting coup all around.As the characters become voyeurs, so do we, with the occasional hand-held shot. But this is a simple story at its heart, and needs no hi-tech, no special effects or whiz bang edits, no provocative camera angles so favored by many indie filmmakers. The Virginia countryside that serves as the setting is breathtaking, while the gritty, unhurried blue collar town in which the protagonists live and work reflects the unhurried nature of the film itself.It's hard to go wrong with these brilliant actors, in such carefully-chosen locations, with such a nuanced, emotional score, and Derek Sieg's story brings it all together. In the Q&A after the film, Sieg revealed that Jones was originally under consideration for Ann, the blonde of Carter's desires. But as Darla she is so at ease in the skin of the lost, lonely girl who just may need an equally lost, lonely boy to show her what love is. January Jones is someone to watch for. A true veteran just barely out of his 20's, Haas is well-known to most film-goers. From his stunning performance at the tender age of 8 in "Witness" to his gritty portrayal of Buzz in the upcoming "Alpha Dog" (I saw it at Sundance and it's not to be missed) Haas has firmly planted his flag on the landscape of American cinema and his brilliant performance here shouldn't surprise those who've seen his work. If you haven't, he will hook you and reel you in. Derek Sieg's "Swedish Auto" is a sweet little gem, a delightful surprise that warmed my heart as it will yours.

I guess some people find these slow art flicks exciting. The sad downtrodden guy who can't seem to connect with anyone finally breaks out and finds out how to love. This film tries to do that, and fails miserably. First off I will say that the acting and cinematography are great, I just wish the story held up to the talent that was on the screen. When I heard that this was a new writer/director it didn't surprise me. The story lacks any immediacy until halfway through, and with this forward momentum virtually non-existent we are left watching Lukas Haas change tires and dig through car parts. At the end of the film (had I been able to stay awake), I am sure I could have tuned up my own Volvo.

Swedish AUTO (2006) *** Lukas Haas, January Jones, Lee Weaver, Chris Williams, Mary Mara, Tim De Zarn, Brianne Davis. Lukas Haas made his screen debut some 20 years ago as the innocent Amish boy who witnesses a brutal murder in the Harrison Ford drama, "WITNESS" and since then has made an impressive indie film career playing all sorts of characters - good and evil - with his soulful, expressive eyes doing most of the acting. In this small, modest and deceptively winning film he continues to do some of his finest work.As the introspective, quiet auto mechanic specializing in Volvo repairs (invoking the innocuous title), Haas' Carter is a lonely, yet inquisitive sort who has no friends and family to speak of outside of his kindly elderly employer Leroy (Lee Weaver) and his son Bobby (Chris Williams) who share their luncheons with Carter at the local diner where Carter is secretly falling in love with the comely waitress Darla (January Jones) who is apparently unaware of her beau-in-waiting. During his many empty evenings Carter follows and spies on the beautiful and equally quiet Darla unbeknownst of her would-be paramour who is also beguiled by a neighbor who plays enchanting violin. Carter can barely summon a conversation with anyone let alone express his desires and mulls his misery in silence.When Carter sees an older man making illicit moves on Darla he presents her with a lovely gift - an assortment of Christmas lights on a clothes-hanger outside her window - prompting her to confront him. What Carter doesn't know is that Darla in fact has been following and spying on him! The two lonely hearts start a tender, odd romance while they have to deal with such issues as Darla's addict mother Pam (Mary Mara) whose junkie influences of morphine makes her a prisoner to her boyfriend Shelley (Tim De Zarn), who is dying and her connection to the drug, while making things painful for Darla's conflict of keeping watch on her mother's dwindling health while putting up with Shelley's streak of sadism. Carter meanwhile works out his frustrations by restoring a vintage Volvo, pipe dreaming of escaping from the idyllic little hamlet with Darla, but things are about to change drastically causing the couple to seriously dwell on their immediate futures.Written and directed by novice filmmaker Derek Sieg, who has a career in film production - and according to the press kit provided confirms this as a semi- autobiographical work, makes a gentle film come alive with skillful modulation of maintaining character development and has a painterly viewpoint with a beguiling production design by Ruth DeJong, Richard Lopez' cinematographic palette of bruised blue/green/black schisms evoking the characters romantic melancholy and a keen editing job by Daniel A. Valverde (I was impressed how the climactic confrontation between Bobby and Carter framed the former out of frame suggesting more menace than in their conversation). The acting is universally solid with Haas giving a poignant performance equally balanced by Jones, a genuine surprise perhaps best known as Barry Pepper's long-suffering young bride in last year's "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada", makes Darla an empathetic yet smart character fully realized by the film's end. Sieg echoes the work of Terrence Malick and new indie fave David Gordon Green and uses his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia to full effect making a unique and sweet film that should be sought out.