George Wright Swedish Auto is a movie I found in a used DVD store and I have no regrets about buying it. I will say that for many movie goers it is slow and somewhat introspective. However, I stuck with it because I found the character of Carter, played by Lucas Haas, to be genuine and sincere. Carter is a withdrawn young man but is no dead-end kid. He has some excellent qualities; he's a talented mechanic who applies himself to his job. Ironically, he lost his family in a devastating car accident. He reads, watches movies and shows ambition to move beyond his limited surroundings. The owner of the auto shop appreciates his work ethic and encourages him to get a car. Carter shows interest in a decrepit old automobile that he plans to bring it back to life, i.e. the Swedish auto. Carter, who has taken to stalking two young women, sees this as a way of breaking out of his rut and finding a soul-mate. The young women are opposites: one is a concert musician and the other a working class girl from a troubled family, who Carter takes under his wing. This presents Carter with a dilemma. This soon resolves itself and he moves on with his life. We are left with an ambiguous ending but life often is like that.

TxMike Filmed in Virginia, the title derives from a couple of things. The main character is a mechanic in a shop called 'Swedish Auto Repair', and during the film the mechanic restores a 1967 Volvo, a Swedish car. Judging by the small budget, no box office information, and very few reviews I would guess not many saw this movie. I found it on Netflix streaming movies and it is a delightful, different little movie.Lukas Haas was a funny-looking kid and that helped him get roles that shot him to fame before he was 10 years old. Now that he has grown into a funny-looking man with large facial features it probably is hard to get 'leading man' roles, but this one suits him just fine. He makes the movie worth seeing.Here he is just known as Carter , probably close to his real age, almost 30. He lost his parents to an accident when he was quite young and has been on his own for a while. He lives in a very spartan apartment that looks like a room in a warehouse, but appropriately appointed for a single guy. He works at Swedish Auto and seems to be the best mechanic there. The owner's adult son also works there but when he isn't having trouble with a task he has an excuse to be away from the job. His dad has to put up with it. Carter overheard some nice violin music through an open window, played by a beautiful young blond lady, early 20s, and he fell in love with her from a distance, but in essence stalked her, 'happening' to be where he knew she would pass, watching her play at night from a roof. You could imagine his fantasy of some day the two of them meeting, falling in love, and living happily ever after.In the meantime the three mechanics often took a lunch break at the local hamburger shop, and the nice girl waiting on them usually was January Jones as Darla . She had her own issues, namely a very sick mother and her mother's mean, abusive boyfriend, so she never was in a rush to get home in the evening. It became clear quickly that she had her eyes on Carter, and she ended up stalking him! Not in a dangerous way, but admiration stalking. So the movie plays out with all of them dealing with their issues as best they could. The situations and dialog are interesting, a good study in human nature and dealing with issues and surprises. SPOILERS: Carter and Darla do in fact get together, she actually is more in love with him than he is with her. In fact, when the pretty musician brings the car to the shop for work Carter actually meets her and is smitten all over. When he calmly relates this to Darla he is surprised she doesn't react. She explains, "You love her like an astronomer loves the moon. You can't really love someone without being with them face-to-face. I love you and you love me." She was sure. After the garage owner dies when a jack lets a car fall on him, the son gets the garage, he tells Carter he has to sell the Volvo he rebuilt, even though the old man had given it to Carter. All the situations are resolved, at least temporarily, when Carter takes the Volvo, then takes Darla and her mother away from the boyfriend and head out of town, ostensibly to start a new life. As they leave we see a flash of an explosion, the mean boyfriend had turned on the unlit kitchen stove burners to kill everyone but only he died when a spark ignited the gas.

proletinchen If you wonder what to do on a rainy night, then this might be just right. It is a slow, calm love story about two small town lonely souls. She is a waitress in a diner, he is a mechanic. They both lost their way and don't know how to communicate with people anymore. She - because is being abused by her father, and he- because he lost his family in a car accident. Eventually they overcome their fear of trusting someone - they start actually talking about their lives and fears and realize you can only fall in love with someone you know. Watching your life from a distance isn't a good option. You have to start living it, even in small portions. This said, the movie has its pro's and contra's: Pro's: - It is not overwhelmingly romantic cliché kind of love story. The actors make their characters very believable. Plus, you can really feel for them. The script is actually not surprising, but that doesn't mean its bad. It seems sincerely enough to intrigue you. Contra's: - It is a bit slow on places. Plus, I am a girl and even I can tell you Lukas Haas doesn't know a thing about cars (and he is playing a car mechanic, I mean - its not like a rocket science. He should have prepared better). The other thing I didn't like was the ending- its kind of a very corny, unreal ending to a very realistic and pragmatic view of the life of those people. It seems to me they didn't know how to end it, so they chose the easy way- but it just doesn't fit the whole movie. This said, as a whole the movie is a good debut of the director, Lukas Haas shows one more time he is a very good actor with lot of potential (that's why I like most of his movies!)and January Jones is very very very believable. She doesn't overact, which often happens when a beautiful actress has to play some small town "normal" girl.

greg g I guess some people find these slow art flicks exciting. The sad downtrodden guy who can't seem to connect with anyone finally breaks out and finds out how to love. This film tries to do that, and fails miserably. First off I will say that the acting and cinematography are great, I just wish the story held up to the talent that was on the screen. When I heard that this was a new writer/director it didn't surprise me. The story lacks any immediacy until halfway through, and with this forward momentum virtually non-existent we are left watching Lukas Haas change tires and dig through car parts. At the end of the film (had I been able to stay awake), I am sure I could have tuned up my own Volvo.