"100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared" (movie critique)

100 YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT 
THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED
movie poster

As a fun time to spent together, The Travelling Toe treats a dear friend to lunch and a movie in celebration of another birthday.  As both of us enjoy unusual movies, The Travelling Toe and friend traveled to the Angelika movie theater in Dallas to see "100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappears".

Robert Gustafsson
plays
Allan Karlson

The Travelling Toe is having a very difficult time describing this Swedish movie.  By the name of the movie title, you can guess it centers on a 100 year old man.  It is about Allan Karlson (Robert Gustafsson) who is living in a retirement community.  On the day of his 100th birthday, Allan decides to slowly climb out the window of his room and makes a break for more adventures.  He walks to the local bus depot  and with just the few coins in his picket, he buys a bus ticket to a small local town.  While waiting for the bus, a young biker thug comes into the depot to use the facilitates. He and his bag don't fit in the small space so he sees Alan standing here and hands his bag to the old man and tells him not to let go of it.   So course, when Allan's bus arrives and is ready to take off,  Allan takes the suitcase with him.  And the crazy adventures begin.

The movie is narrated in English, with some of  the actors speaking in Swedish, English, Spanish, Russian and French with subtitles.

Allan has had a long an interesting life.  As a young lad, Allan learned how to blow up things and loved it.  His first job was working in a Swedish munitions factory.  From there he goes to Spain and blows up things for the revolutionists but inadvertently saves Franco's life. Then during Word War II, he ends up where the biggest bomb is being built , out in New Mexico.  There Allan fixes Robert Oppenheimer's design flaw. He also meets Harry Truman and they enjoy several, several drinks together.

After the war he is kidnapped by the Russians to work on their bomb program.   But Allan makes the mistake of angering Stalin by comparing him to Franco.  So Allan is sent to Siberia to work in a gulag.  There he meets Albert Einstein's brother Henry, who did not inherit any of Albert's smarts....in fact Henry is rather dim-witted.  Through their own dumb luck, somehow they manage to blow up the gulag and make their escape to Paris.  Eventually, Allan is recruited by the CIA to be a double agent between the US and Russia.  But each side knows he is a double agent and they just feed each other worthless information through Allan.  He finally grows old, retires and ends up in the retirement community.

Now that is just part of the story. The rest centers on Allan and his friend finding out that the bag he has is full of money and the thugs are pursuing them.

The Travelling Toe can not even begin to describe all the other adventures these 2 guys have along the way especially the part the elephant plays in it.

So go see this movie at your own risk.  But if you like funny, weird, eccentric, quirky movies then it could be for you.
  
The Travelling Toe and birthday friend must admit that we did share a lot of laughter watching Allan in all his adventures and all the characters he meet along the way.  .

Jonas Jonasson

This Swedish movie was wildly popular in Europe and possibly there will be a US film made of it but how will it translate to the US market is hard to predicate.  It is based on a book of the same name by Jonas Jonasson that was published in 2009.

The Travelling Toe gives this fun movie 1 big toe up and I middle toe up with a side of Swedish meatballs!