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         I’m going to tell you about the Swedish film The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (from here on referred to as The Hundred Year Old Man because the whole title is ridiculously long). As sometimes happens with this gig, every once in a while I get a few passes to The Music Hall in Portsmouth NH, which I of course thank them for. The problem with this (if you can call it a problem) is in choosing what to see. The Music Hall gets so many little-known, independent and foreign titles that it really can be difficult to make a decision. Usually I'm the one that scours their calendar for things that look interesting, but not this time. This time I decided to let my husband make the selections.
 
        It took him about half an hour of studying the description for each interesting looking film that will be showing over the next two months to decide on what to see. The first of his selections was The Hundred Year Old Man. I read the description myself, and while I did think it looked interesting, I didn’t get my hopes up very high. There have just been too many movies lately that I was so excited to see, only to be disappointed within the first few minutes. Of course, most of these disappointing movies were big budget Hollywood types, which of course is miles away from most of what The Music Hall features. So, armed with my mild apprehension, we made our way to The Music Hall Loft to see what The Hundred Year Old Man had to offer.
 
        Allan Karlsson has had an extraordinary and astonishing life. He’s met people and done things others can only dream of.  But yet he finds himself the resident of a nursing home on his 100^th birthday. Deciding that there’s far more life and many more adventures to be had, Allan jumps out the window of his room and embarks on a most unexpected journey.
 
        Apparently my initial apprehension was unfounded because, besides a crotchety old man behind me that kept complaining, The Hundred Year Old Man was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time! The storyline is akin to Forrest Gump, and while I do absolutely love that movie, I honestly think that this one is better. There were far more funny, witty and ironic moments in this film than in Forrest Gump, which leads me to the conclusion that I certainly need to read the book it’s based on. I’m curious to see how true to the book the film is. Perhaps that will be my “beach read” for the summer.

        The Hundred Year Old Man, depending on the report you read, is either the highest grossing, or the third highest grossing film ever to come out of Sweden. The film also won numerous awards as it made its international film festival rounds last year. Now, I know better than most that awards and accolades really don’t mean much of anything in the film industry. What I mean is, just because something has won awards and high praise doesn’t mean its good, as I’ve said many times. It seems that more often than not these days the movies that get the awards either aren’t that good, or are straight out horrible. And so, it really is like a ray of sunshine after a long rainy spell to see a movie that really did live up to its hype.

        I encourage you all to see this film if you’re given the chance. It’s a hilarious, engaging and entertaining romp through one man’s unbelievable and extraordinary life that at the very least will leave you with a smile.

        The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared is rated R, was directed by Felix Herngren and stars Robert Gustafsson, Iwar Wiklander and David Wiberg. It will be released in the US on Blu Ray, DVD and digital download on August 18.