I found myself watching the 2011 film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo this evening. The Stieg Larsson phenomenon had so far completely passed me by, perhaps because I am not the most avid of readers of crime fiction. I can imagine the book being quite a good read, but the film’s faithfulness to the book (as I imagine it) brings it down more than a little, for the plot is sprawling and the story loses its momentum. (My other, old fogie, gripes would be that there is maybe too much graphic violence and little is left to the imagination.) I should add that this is the American re-make of the 2009 Swedish film of the book. The basic story line – an aristocratic family riddled with extremists covering up for ghastly family crimes – is plausible and the false leads and dead ends are cleverly played out. Daniel Craig (an investigative journalist with the bit between his teeth) and Rooney Mara (the girl with the tattoo) turn in strong performances as the film’s main protagonists. To be fair, I suppose I would be happy to watch the sequels in the Millenium Series, if they are made…