Well, folks, I just watched “Strike One,” and I gotta say, this is one film that’s got my head spinning in all sorts of directions. It’s like when you first bite into a kanelbulle, and you’re not sure if it’s the best thing ever or if it’s just the sugar hitting your bloodstream. Let’s dive in.
First off, the film centers around Juan, a young boy caught between the harsh realities of gang violence and the pressure to stay on the straight and narrow. The portrayal of Juan’s struggles reminded me of those afternoons spent at the local ungdomsgård, where you’d see kids wrestling with choices that could shape their entire futures. I remember this one lad, Benny, who was forever torn between playing fotboll and hanging with the wrong crowd. Juan’s story feels painfully personal and real.
The direction by David Llauger Meiselman? Solid stuff. He captures the gritty underbelly of urban life with a handheld camera style that makes you feel like you’re right there in the middle of the chaos. It’s raw, but also strangely beautiful—kind of like a Stockholm winter morning, you know?
The performances? Top-notch. Danny Trejo as Manny is exactly the hard-edged but somehow fatherly figure you’d expect. He’s like the tough pappa everyone secretly wants. But it’s the young Andy Grays’ portrayal of Juan that steals the show. The kid’s got talent, no two ways about it. It’s refreshing to see such authentic, heart-wrenching emotion from someone so young. Makes you wonder what you were doing at that age – I was probably mucking about with Super 8 films and chasing after the ice cream van.
But – and there’s always a but – the film does have its flaws. At times, it dips a bit too deep into cliché territory. The “one big job that goes wrong” trope feels a bit worn out. And man, the pacing could use some work. There were moments where I found myself glancing at the clock, wondering when it would pick up again. It’s like slogging through a long Swedish winter… you know there’s a summer somewhere, but it’s taking forever.
A standout moment, though? The scene where Juan faces off against his own family to make the right choice. The tension was palpable, much like the feeling you get when you’re standing at Sergels torg during rush hour. Took me back to a time when I had to make a tough call myself
