New Yorker's Review For 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' Comes Out Of The Thaw, Calls It "Bleak But Mesmerizing"

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by Kevin Jagernauth
December 5, 2011 9:00 AM
6 Comments

Well, the embargo is officially broken. At least for one magazine. After much drama, the New Yorker has dropped the first review of David Fincher's "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" ahead of the rest of the critical world much to the chagrin of Sony, and it's a (mostly) positive notice from David Denby who usually doesn't parse out his praise very easily.

As you well know, the film is based on the first installment of Stieg Larsson's massively successful trilogy of books and investigates a four decades long unsolved murder that soon spirals into a larger canvas of torture, rape, religion and violence. Denby holds out special praise for the film's lead, saying "you can't take your eyes off Rooney Mara." But most intriguingly, Denby describes 'Dragon Tattoo' as the ideological flipside to "Zodiac."

"...every time a piece of evidence comes into view, it quickly recedes again," the critic writes about "Zodiac" adding, "its an expression of philosophical despair." However, 'Dragon Tattoo' "celebrates deduction [and] high end detective work" and concludes that "everything can be found if you look hard enough."

Ultimately, he rounds it up by saying the film is a "a bleak but mesmerizing piece of filmmaking; it presents a chilled view of the world in which brief moments of loyalty flicker between repeated acts of greed and betrayal." More reviews to come starting on December 13th. Check out the full review at the New Yorker. "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" opens on December 21st.

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6 Comments

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Kory | December 5, 2011 7:14 PMReply

I want to take my eyes off Mara... she is hideous. And she was horrible in Tanner Hall.
jessr15 | December 9, 2011 4:12 AM

Check Rooney out as Alex from A Clockwork Orange, and you may change your opinion.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/12/06/magazine/13villains.html#/rooney-mara
Any Sane Person | December 6, 2011 1:41 AM

You're an idiot.
DD | December 5, 2011 12:29 PMReply

Massively damaging review for GWTDT if you ask me.
Peter Labuza | December 5, 2011 9:05 AMReply

Denby is referring to Tintin when he says its "standard boy adventure stuff" that's "fun for about an hour"
Kevin | December 5, 2011 9:13 AM

Yep, caught that. Thanks Peter.