Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Slingshot (1993)
Director: Åke Sandgren
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
It doesn't take long to realise that Jesper Salén's 12-year-old Roland is going to have a hard time in '20s Stockholm: daddy's a rampant socialist with a dodgy back; mum's an expatriate Russian (and Jewish); his schoolmaster is stern and handy with the cane. With suffering duly dispatched, it's time for the dash of eccentricity - to the lad's rescue comes a handy box of prophylactics, banned by the authorities but actively distributed by the welfare-conscious Red underground. A condom catapult earns Roland social acceptability - but also, eventually, a place in reform school. Given assured performances and a convincing, unshowy production job, these events proceed convincingly enough. It's just that the director plods through it all with the flattening style of a TV movie.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Åke Sandgren
Producer: Waldemar Bergendahl, Miro Vostiar
Cast: Jesper Salén, Stellan Skarsgård, Basia Frydman, Niclas Olund, Ernst-Hugo Järegård full cast
Duration: 102 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now