Film Of The Week:

"The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared" title that goes on forever is a movie poster designer’s nightmare, but the film itself should please cinemagoers looking for something a little different. Based on the best-selling Swedish novel by Jonas Jonasson and directed by Felix Herngren, The 100 Year Old Man… follows an old codger’s wild adventure at an age when most people are pushing up daisies.

There are shades of other films here, namely the brilliant Being There (with Peter Sellers) and the popular (and possibly not so brilliant) Forrest Gump, with the idea being that a simple minded man can inadvertently find himself gaining notoriety and famous companions because of his unique take on life. 

We meet Allan Karlsson (Robert Gustafsson – who’s only in his 50s) on his 100th birthday as he sneaks out of the window of his nursing home, and as the authorities panic and start a search for him, he goes from one zany situation to another. His adventure starts with him stealing a suitcase full of money from a bikie criminal, accidentally killing the crim, and going on the run with a group of people and an elephant. But wait, there’s more…

Interspersed with the modern-day caper are flashbacks from Allan’s amazing life where we learn that from a very young age he liked to blow things up – a talent he put to good use and which gained him some very famous admirers from history. One amusing side story is that he ended up in prison with Albert Einstein’s very dumb brother.

It’s all pretty silly but done in such a way that you just go along for the ride… or not. Swedish audiences have loved it but some of the humour probably loses a bit of impact in translation, as humour is so dependent on timing. If you’ve read the book and liked it (which I have), you won’t be disappointed.

by Vicki Englund