Kajínek

The modern visuals of this “shaky”, realistic thriller made in Czech Republic are not tacky. On the contrary, they work well and enhance the experience from a film that doesn’t have much to offer in terms of plot, because it ends at the exact moment when it finally starts to pick up some pace. But that’s not the fault of the screenwriters, but of the Czech police, who were so quick to catch Kajínek and didn’t give him a chance to do more mischief while on the lam :-) The actors are decent and the commercial success that the movie enjoys is admirable. Is it possible that Petr Jákl will make the first truly good Czech action film in the future? If it’s to earn its budget, it would have to use subject matter as attractive as that in Kajínek, which won’t be easy... (27/09/2010)

Jákl has seen a lot of films. This film looks "American" more than anything else, and Czech cinema finally has a real "bad-ass" character (Konstantin Lavronenko!), but making movies about people who the media will make saints out of is kind of immoral. We could have almost finally had a proper Czech genre film without a sour taste in our mouths. 3 ½. (12/11/2010)

A film that is controversial in the most banal and brutal way I can imagine. A film with a solid momentum, but at the same time with a dizzyingly romanticizing image of Kajínek as a Czech James Bond. It is almost impossible to believe that this person is a member of the Czech underworld, as rather he looks like the post-revolutionary Mirek Dušín. I find that unequivocally questionable. The affected attempt at lyricism also got on my nerves, whether in the overstretched music of Václav Bárta or in the traditionally opulently empty camera of F. A. Brabec. The pinnacle of the movie? A famous and without question riveting performance by Lavroněnko, who made Kajínek into a character with whom the viewer will very easily identify and will feel sorry for/admire... Well? I doubt it. (29/07/2010)

Petr Jákl made a decent follow-up to the minority series of Czech action films, which after all have come a long way. However, I wouldn't go overboard with any ode to joy regarding this. As a film, Kajínek looks good, works well, and makes sense. Vilhelmová handles the lead role well and it is acceptable that most of the shots are carried by her acting. However, the supposed super look of the whole film also begins and ends with her trendy hairstyle and clothes. A significant step backward is the roles played by Alice Bendová and Michal Dlouhý, who only copy their performances from The Velvet Murderers. Horváthová - Jakubisková was also not cast ideally and I would blame the casting, not the actors themselves. One positive surprise was of course Vladimír Dlouhý and Václav Noid Bárta. The performances of Lavronenko and Linda were greatly influenced by the choice of their dubbers, and their characters blended adequately with the foreign voices, as was the case of their colleagues in the Czech film The Bitch's Diary. They were reproached for it back then, yet now it seems that audiences have gotten used to it or they don’t worry about what they need to find as an excuse to give it a lower rating. Which is positive. I'll see how Kajínek changes with the passage of time, i.e., if it fits in like the overly harsh Bolero, also visually worked on by F. A. Brabec, or if it will continue to stand out. (21/08/2010)

A decently made, but incredibly boring fairy tale, which lacked only a kiss through the bars, which would have made him swoon before the truly hideous song sounding into the closing credits. The direction was helped a lot by Brabec's camera and Vladimír Dlouhý and Michal Dlouhý, but otherwise it was just boring and empty. Even Lavronenko and Vilhelm were not miraculous.__P.S. I don't want to see Václav Bárta and Alice Bendová in any more Czech films, please. One and a half. (15/04/2011)

The Czech thriller is quite good, but "Příběh kmotra" was definitely much better and tougher in this regard. Jákl has watched a lot of American productions and approached certain action scenes in a similar way. It's not bad, but in comparison to what is coming out, it simply pales in comparison. On the other hand, it's a demonstration that Czech action thrillers can work. (10/11/2014)