Wonderful character development!

recommended

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Okay, so I'm late to the game. I had no idea Nordic Noir was a thing. I've been enjoying dark Scandinavian movies like the Millennium Trilogy ('The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,' etc.) for years and am thrilled someone decided to actually categorize them. Yeah, thrilled. Anyway, I caught another one on Netflix the other night—a Danish film with what is probably the worst title ever—'The Keeper of Lost Causes.' I don't know, maybe it sounds better in Danish.Don't let the crappy title fool you, though. This is an outstanding film. And like a Nordic winter, it's cold and spare, with a protagonist who is as dysfunctional and people-averse as they come. I'm not prepared to reveal any spoilers here. Let me just say that, as police procedurals go, this one really stands out. The main character, Carl, is himself dark and unapproachable. But in the best tradition of antiheroes, he is driven to seek out Truth—no matter what that may mean for his languishing career as a homicide detective.This film features the usual cast of Scandinavian loonies—especially the blonde and creepy Lasse—with a wonderfully empathetic performance by Carl's sidekick, Assad who, when asked why he isn't following orders, claims his Danish isn't that good. Nice touch!I can highly recommend this film. Though there's little on-screen violence, it's creepy as hell as sucks you in like a Scottish peat bog. And here's the best part: Netflix also has the two 'Department Q' sequels, 'The Absent One' and 'A Conspiracy of Faith,' both which I plan to catch very soon.

'The Keeper of Lost Causes' is neither the first nor the last crime drama you'll see featuring a bad-tempered, middle-aged cop nurturing personal suffering and who plays by nobody's rules but his own. But it loses additional points for its ridiculous villain, with his implausible motivations and his Dr. Evil-like plan to murder his victim, which predictably is foiled only at the final moment. The weird thing here is that the tone of the drama is down-to-earth, realistic, yet the crime is almost comically preposterous (and the story of how the hero uncovers the truth scarcely less so). It's definitely not the finest hour of "Scandi-Noir".

I've watched this movie now because I'm scheduling a thematic channel.It is a phenomenon. The detective literature and films from the Nordic countries boom. Not only from Larsson but since the Henning Mankell's inimitable Inspector Walander. And always with its trademark: an undercurrent of social criticism.The Q department is a very good idea that will gives us good detective stories to fans of the genre. Some clichés tarnish the story: the strongly different pair of cops, the detective alone and tormented, the chiefs are always fools ... But the plot is smoother, enough to enjoy.I look forward to the next chapter: Fasandraeberne.

There really isn't a lot for me to add to what others have commented so far, at least the ones who DID like the movie...As others have mentioned, the plot and overall story are fairly simple, but at the same time the way it is put together and the way the 2 policemen proceed through the case do indeed draw you into the film and skilfully ratchet up the suspense and tension as the story unfolds. The movie itself is well made and the acting by the two principles works well along with the tone of the film. There ARE other movies like this that I happen to like better, primarily because they were perhaps a bit more stylish and the stories were more complex and intriguing. The movies similar to this that I liked better happened to be foreign films (to me) Both are French. One is the very intriguing 'CRIMSON RIVERS' which has two cops investigating some unusual circumstances involving strange happenings and deaths surrounding a prestigious school. The other is the VERY stylish and slightly Science Fiction flavoured 'CHRYSALIS' which is a very sharp looking film that has some nice twists and turns involving memory and identity. This movie here isn't as stylish and is pretty straight-forward in the sense that they are trying to figure out what really happened to a woman in a five year old suicide case. BUT... the story IS very good and well done though...Since this is clearly the first in what likely will be a series of films featuring these two policemen working old cases (cold cases?) it sets the stage well in letting us get to know more about them and particularly why the more unfriendly cop is the way he is. What I appreciated about this movie was that they didn't overdo the characterizations like they easily could have done. They gave the main cop just the right tone of disaffection and dourness, but they didn't try to slam you over the head with it. What I also liked about this movie was that although it did present some uncomfortable situations (well, ONE, primarily), it wisely kept those elements restrained and didn't push it like so many do nowadays so freely and quite gleefully. For THAT I am thankful because I personally do NOT at all enjoy elements in films that glorify or greatly emphasize people's sadistic cruelty to others. Just not my thing... Make no mistake though, there IS a bit of that here, but being that I don't usually care for things like that, I felt that they kept an effective balance in depicting it.I'm thinking that future films with these two characters will likely be even better because now the stage is set and they will probably be able to do a lot more with the stories and the characters as time goes on. I would recommend this film IF you like slow burners that are not particularly flashy, but if you like ones that DO have a pretty good palpable sense of tension and suspense as the story unfolds. If you don't expect it to be TOO detailed or complex and you can just sit back and enjoy a good Police Procedural, you should find this one pretty entertaining.