Levottomat 3 (2004) is the third and final Levottomat film, and is sometimes
known as Addiction or When Nothing is Enough.
A quick look at IMDb will leave you expecting a very bad film. IMDb
readers currently have this at 3.1, but this is after a massive campaign that
originated in Finland to get it into the 100 worst of all time, so 703 of the
1,280 who voted scored it the minimum "1." A backlash seems to have caused 86
perfect 10s. There are no external reviews, and the internal IMDb comments,
while all negative, don't seem to show any agreement on what the problem was.
Some blame cast, others script, others direction, and one even blamed product
placement. I had no idea what to expect, but the unpopularity of this film ended
up being a trivially easy matter to explain. It is a "drugs suck" film, but the
drug is sex. In other words it's a "sex sucks" film. That's not a theme with a
large ready-made audience.
Mi Groenlund plays a successful advertising exec who's married to an architect, and
living in a nice home with their two perfect kids. Her husband is something of a
workaholic, but is also a caring husband and father. She barely notices because
she is addicted to sex, and has had numerous one night stands. By the time we
join the story, she is out of control. She is given a new account at work,
to help promote a new book by a sex therapist, who encourages her to seek help in her sex addiction group, but of
course Mi has not hit bottom and won't listen. "Her next time will be her last,
and she is getting a handle on it." Before she gets honest, she is discovered
and will likely lose her family and husband, her job, and nearly her life when
she finally picks up a sicko.
It's easy to see why the film provoked so many negative reactions. First, the
film has no insight. Even with the sex therapist for exposition, the script never
examines what has made Mi the way she is. Second, the film is a real
downer with no entertainment value, unless you are entertained by watching
someone ruin her life. Third, it skimps on female nudity (one woman, no full
frontal). Fourth, there are many
jump cuts that make the film seem like it is stuttering.
Bottom line? It is a "sex sucks" film with very little sex, no bright spots,
and nothing to teach us.
If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to
read the
explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by
our definition, a
C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs
and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:
