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The one movie that made me a fan of Joel Kinnaman

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You’ve heard about his man, I presume. Yes, the Swedish actor stars in my latest TV obsession, the Netflix produced/SF series – Altered Carbon as Takeshi Kovacs , a violent mercenary who wakes up 250 years after his sleeve is killed, and is given the choice to either spend the rest of his life in prison for his crimes, or help solve the murder of the wealthiest man in the world.

Now, Is not surprisingly good in Altered Carbon, and the series itself is excellent, bindge-worthy and ridiculously entertaining, but let me take you on a trip down memory lane. Not about the series and the 2002 hard-boiled cyberpunk science fiction novel by Richard K. Morgan, that the series is based on. No… I want to remind you of one tiny but great movie that made me go: Aha! This dude has a bright future ahead of him.

In Your Veins. The Swedish/Norwegian co-production with Beata Gårdeler behind the camera and Malin Crépin and Joel Kinnaman in front of the camera.

I skuggan av värmen (in the original Swedish title) was a drama/love story based on the autobiographical novel by Lotta Thell. Kinnaman played Erik a police officer who strikes up a romance with Eva (Malin Crépin) a troubled security officer. She is a heroin addict and the movie depicts how the debilitating drug addiction affects on what would otherwise be a normal loving relationship.

In Your Veins was released in 2009, when Kinnaman was at the very beginning of his acting career, and has not established himself to the American audience just yet. Sure, since then he become Robocop, starred in Suicide Squad, and was part of the most iconic TV series ever (House of cards and my personal favorite The Killing) but to me probably the greatest performance of his career can be found in this movie.

I distinctly remember watching this movie and being blown away by his acting, range and emotional dept. He was heartbroken, tortured and concerned and you could feel the desperation when he felt that Eva is slowly slipping away. I also remember that I had to wait quite a while before I actually watch it, since it took me a descent amount of time to find a respectable English translation. I don’t speak Swedish, so it was an ordeal, that eventually paid off.

So if you’re having any doubts about Joel Kinnaman’s talent while you enjoy his latest TV work (Altered Carbon), you should do yourself a favor and check out In Your Veins.

It made me a fan of Joel, and if you’re not by now this is the movie to convince you to become one.

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