In 1973, Stockholm, Kaj Hansson (Ethan Hawke), supporting long hair, cowboy boots and a bag, enters a bank, pulls out a machine gun and barks orders. He lets all the customers go, only holding a couple of employees hostage.

When he finds out employee Bianca (Noomi Rapace) pushed the silent alarm, he is more pleased than angry. He makes her call the chief of police, and tell him that if the chief doesn’t come to the bank in 10 minutes, he will shoot her in the face.

The chief arrives with a bunch of officers, sets shop upstairs and goes in to talk to Kaj. In addition to some money and guns, Kaj has a strange demand: he wants prisoner/fellow bank robber Gunnar (Mark Strong) freed.

The confused chief begrudgingly agrees, as at this time, he has no reason to believe Kaj won’t hurt the hostages.

But as time passes and Gunnar’s brought in, an interesting dynamic unfolds. It seems that Kaj, while capable of dramatic and seeimingly violent outburts, doesn’t intend to harm or kill anyone. The hostages are really just his ticket to leaving with Gunnar alive, and he even bonds with Bianca further.

Things are never simple in a hostage situation however, as the prime minister won’t allow them to leave with the hostages, and the chief seems more interested in capturing and outsmarting Kaj than the safety of the civilians.

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Stockholm is based on the actual heist in 1973 which is credited for the psychological term Stockholm Syndrome where hostages develop sympathy for their captors.

And Ethan Hawke’s casting couldn’t have been more perfect. He is brilliant as the slightly nutty but well-meaning robber. It’s also not far-fetched that the hostages, especially but not only Bianca, warm up to him. He shares his only piece of fruit with everyone, has brought games to help pass the time, and he is genuinely more interested in keeping everyone alive and reasonably healthy than the chief, several cops and the prime minister.

Yeah, no one wants to be held hostage at gun point, but if you were going to be in that situation, you could do a lot worse than Kaj, especially a Kaj as portrayed by Ethan Hawke. And it’s always a bliss to watch Mark Strong.

Noomi Rapace is slowly turning to one of my favorite actresses. And this is the second time I watched her on the screen where she develops a relationship with guy she really shouldn’t have. (That other movie is called Dead Man Down, and I strongly recommend it.)

Written and directed by Robert Budreau, I definitely recommend this biographic crime comedy.