The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (2013)

The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared is a best-selling 2009 Swedish book. Now, it has been adapted into this 2013 film, and is certain to entertain with its pure unique and fun plot.The film is as unique as the book, with a ridiculous yet humorous plot about the 100 year old man who runs away from his retirement home and gets into all sorts of mess along the way.The film is paced well, with the narration of the old man keeping the film moving, and helping to transition as smoothly as possible from the present to Allan's past. The wild plot, pieced together by every event in the story, shapes the characters and makes the film even more humorous, as viewers truly appreciate the great coincidences that help keep them, especially Allan, out of trouble.However, the film doesn't quite adapt the book perfectly. The book is quite a long read, and so naturally many plot elements needed to be left out. While many readers would have seen this as a negative, instead I think it makes the film much easier to watch, or else it would have been too long and overflowing. Regardless, more time could definitely have been spent on Allan, the 100 year old's, younger days. Many plot points were also changed, for example the omission of Allan's first Bali visit as a younger man. The book is also better at linking Allan's youth with the present. Even so, with such a complex and long book there was great risk in creating a bad movie; the producers certainly did not fail.The book is a fun read, and this film is a fun watch. Yes, the book was better, however this isn't a surprise; if the entire book really were adapted it'd be a significantly longer film. The film is still definitely a great watch; just make sure you have subtitles though, a lot of the film is in Swedish.

Allan Karlsson would not be a fan of simile, metaphor, or flowery comparisons of any sort; he's much more of a "things are how they are, que sera sera" kind of guy. So he might issue one of his patented crinkly grimaces to hear his film, The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (a title as cutely apt, lumbering, but functional as the film itself), allegorized as 'Forrest Gump through the eyes of a Swedish Kurt Vonnegut'. Still, it's impossible to imagine a more conducive description for the film. It's cute, clever, and laced with a very welcome sense of dark Swedish humour, but a bit too light and gentle to dig into the weightier, more Vonnegutian themes of other aging road trip contemporaries. Does this impact our enjoyment of the film? Not at all. It is what it is, and what it is is worthwhile and hugely watchable.The plot is rather episodic, with the series of accidentally poignant flashbacks integrated amusingly but playing out more clumsily here than in book form. Ultimately, it's hard to shake the feeling that we might be better off forgoing Karlsson's colourful past altogether. His present-day caper, an almost Coen brothers-y road trip involving a mysterious bag of mob cash, an entourage of quirky companions, and an ever mounting, morbidly hilarious body count, is so much more watchable than the amusing but more contrived Gumpiness of his reminiscences. Still, Karlsson's amiable, nonchalant acceptance of all things that pass - political regimes, life, loss, Gulags, drinking, doppelgängers, xenophobic vasectomies, unexpected elephants, and lots and lots of explosions - is infectious, and perfectly portrayed with crusty warmth by (48 year old!) star Robert Gustafsson, aided by some pretty impressive makeup. He's an engaging enough narrator that all events, revolutionary (literally) and inconsequential, add flavour to his characterization and film alike.As with all 100 year-old things there are growing pains. The film fights somewhat distractingly hard to play as a comedy sometimes, none the least through its carnivalesque, Nino Rota ripoff musical score, and the ending's cloying schmaltziness won't be to all tastes (though it's hard to find fault with any film that brings us to a Balinese beach vacation). Nonetheless, just as the film urges for nonjudgmental acceptance and enjoyment of everything that drifts on by, it dictates its own ideal viewing state. And as a night's hearty entertainment, untaxing but seasoned with just enough discerning weirdness, The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared could prove the perfect fit. So it goes.-7/10

One day i went to the bookstore and saw a cartoon covered book. It was green and very simple. Usually i don't get easily attracted, but it had a very long title. "The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson. I thought to myself, should i buy it or just leave it? Long story short, i finished the book with many laughter and many new inspirations. it was funny, dramatic, and deep. Jonas Jonasson explained in a simple way how corrupted our world is. It's so ironic it makes you laugh. I share the book to many of my friends. Suddenly somebody said there was a movie based about the book. I was very exited, (if you have red the book, my country, Indonesia, was quoted many times and the stupidity of how our government is was also written) so i searched the movie. It was a bit difficult to get movies that weren't published by our media. The movie store wasn't going to sell any movie that seems had no prospect in it (pop-minded-people). Finally after a long journey i got the movie and watched. Watched. And watched. Yes, the cast are there. The director did a good job casting the actors, especially Allan Karlson, Herbert Einstein, Julius, and the Never Again Squad. But, there was a minute that i got lost when Allan succeed the Manhattan Project and suddenly arrived in Sweden. Is it just me, or is this new plot a bit disappointing? Actually my favorite quote of the book was "There are only two things I can do better than most people. One of them is to make vodka from goats' milk, and the other is to put together an atom bomb." There was a moment in the book where Allan traveled through the Himalaya's. It was there he found his other "hobby" and after his "enlightenment" he went to Tehran and met a very fanatic priest. Maybe because of the budgeting and other technical matters this project can't afford it. But in my opinion this was a important moment for the development of the characters and the story. There were many changes from the book to the movie. I tried to be objective and watch it in another perspective, but still, how did Allan survive Gulag, how did he suddenly had a Chinese traditional clothes when he was in France (the book describes that he was the translator and the best friend of an Indonesian ambassador), and why did the movie script writer add more antagonist (Pim - Alan Ford). The book was dark. It had sarcasm everywhere, but i can't feel it in the movie. So yes, it was entertaining, but not what i hoped for.

Well… I never thought I'd be watching this film today. It is the most random, perplexingly odd and obscure film I've ever seen. This film is in fact a Swedish made adaption of an English book, starring literally no actor I have heard of.I would like to say I have never read the book, so I don't know how similar this film is to the book and so I don't care about that and I won't mention it.The film is fairly low budget, so the actors who star in it aren't exactly big stars; but whoever they did bring in, they did a good job. Every character is unique and has their part to play, and all of them show tonnes of expression and tone. But the actors are helped by a fantastically written script (co-written by Felix Herngen, the director) that is filled with personality, subtle jokes and a dark, violent undertone in a mad, all-over-the-place plot that never fails to entertain and make you laugh; and through countless explosions and heads falling on car bonnets to a screaming woman, it is surprisingly dark.The story really is all-over-the-place, so you don't know what will happen next; whether it's a dance with Franco or an accidental escape with Albert Einstein's idiot brother, Herbert. It's quite the silly film, if you hadn't guessed.But it wouldn't have worked without the main character, the 100- year-old man himself: Allan Karlssen (Robert Gustafsson). He personifies the mad and slightly confused manner of the film and carries it through a telling of his life from the age of nine to where he is when he is 100 in flashbacks throughout the film, almost perfectly entwining with the main story; telling you what you need to know to get through it all and, in essence, truly develop the mad character that is Allan. By the end of it, you love him almost as a brother and you know pretty much all there is to know about him; and it works.Yep. Spoilers are comin'.However, the film wouldn't have its dark and violent edge if the story hadn't revolved around a violent biker gang – that I forget the name of – who constantly try to retain a brief case that Allan had taken by mistake from one of their members containing 50 million pounds. It is a simple, yet unpredictable story that leads from this; and the biker gang all end up being killed by Allan and his friend by mistake – other than one who is ran over and somehow ends up becoming their friend, of sorts.No more spoilers. You'll be fine.Sometimes during the film, with the flashbacks, though, it seems like either the writing goes a bit lazy or it just goes too mad. There is too much talk of how much Allan likes explosions and sometimes it dwindles too much on the flashbacks, and then it simply gets confusing at points, the story a little too hard to follow; leaving you, at points, thinking: "What the hell is going on?!" And then there are silly things that just don't quite need to be there and take up time in the film, but I won't bother to talk about them.But the flaws in this film are mostly overcome by everything that is good about it. It is charming, funny, likable, well acted, has some very good characters that all have their part to play, and, most of all, it is completely different from anything else I have ever seen and is an entertaining film to watch. When the film finishes, you are left feeling the same as the police officer at the end of it all: feeling confused, amazed and surprised.Verdict:There's nothing spectacular about this film, but, as a quirky Swedish film about a 100-year-old man and his shenanigans with a crazy biker gang, it gets the job done; with a funny script, great characters and a unique story in a film filled with personality and a surprisingly dark under layer. It may dwindle a little too much on confusing flashbacks and the fact that Allan (the 100-year-old) likes explosions with a story that may be a bit too mad for the sake of it; but it's still a very entertaining watch and definitely worth a go if you're on Netflix or Amazon Prime.So I give it: 75/100.