Swedish Auto (2006)

2.5 Popcorn boxes

Swedish Auto is an independent film that never saw much (if any) of a theatrical release.  It stars January Jones (Darla) and Lukas Haas as Carter.  Carter is an auto mechanic at a shop that only works on Volvos (hence the title).  Darla is a waitress at a diner the mechanic crew often goes to for lunch.  Carter likes Darla, but he's too shy and introverted that he doesn't say much at all to her, though it's obvious she likes him.

The film is so leisurely as to be almost catatonic.  The pace is glacierly slow, it's pretty boring for much of the film.  Apart from Jones and Haas, the acting is amateurish.  The script is spare to the point of being incomprehensible, the settings are not well dressed, and a number of inconsistencies arise, and the dialog stops making sense in spots. 

It's interesting to see the gorgeous January Jones here, pre-Mad Men.  She's a sympathetic character here (though only in the movies would a knockout like Jones have zero men attracted to her).  There's no chemistry between the two leads, and you really don't know what she sees in him.  An abusive step-father and an ill mother are thrown in for good measure.

The best thing about the film is the score.  It's really good.

This one goes back on the shelf, never to be seen again.  Why this film was even made is a puzzle.