The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared

Cinema is a peerless cultural ambassador. It cracks entire worlds open and connects us intimately with places we'll never visit and people we'll never know. Sometimes, as with The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, it reassures us that people worldwide love to turn their brains off and watch a dumb comedy, just like us Americans.

The 100-Year-Old-Man follows its titular character from his Swedish nursing home to the shores of Bali, as he's pursued by a disgruntled biker gang. The film originated with Swedish author Jonas Jonasson's novel, which The Guardian reported as proof that Swedes can write light novels and not just bleak serial-killer thrillers, though the movie does feature at least five onscreen deaths. 

The affected comedy has been called a new Forrest Gump. But whereas Tom Hanks played Gump as touched, Robert Gustafsson's centenarian lead has his wits intact (if somewhat dulled by a Lebowski-ish drinking problem), and the film's most intriguing mystery is what's going on in that 100-year-old brain. Is he slipping quietly into senility or hatching a Machiavellian plan? Gustafsson is understatedly mesmerizing, and co-star David Wiberg steals some scenes as Benny, a directionless 40-something college student Gustafsson picks up along the way.

Unfortunately, the film often feels as rudderless as poor Benny. A proper madcap comedy works because the stakes raise from start to finish; the plot balloons with absurdity until the players find themselves in such ludicrous circumstances that only a punch line of terrific proportions can save them. Here, the constant flashbacks deflate any escalating comic tension. They feel like toothless Saturday Night Live sketches that drag on a bit too long: Alfred Einstein's idiot brother is kidnapped by mistake; Ronald Reagan demands that his groundskeeper not "tear down that wall," and Gorbachev is listening in. All the while, Gustafsson is there at the edge of the frame, deadpan and a little buzzed. 

When the inevitable Hollywood remake comes along, I expect to feel a little sentimental for this film. It's hard to imagine Adam Sandler or Kevin Hart playing our elderly protagonist with any dignity. But while The 100-Year-Old-Man makes pit stops all over the world, it already feels a little too Hollywood.

Critic's Grade: C-

SEE IT: The 100-Year-Old Man is rated R. It opens Friday at Cinema 21.

WWeek 2015