Entertainment

A Somewhat Gentle Man

Stellan Skarsgard is a first-rate actor, as anyone who has seen “Good Will Hunt ing,” “Dogville” or, especially, “Breaking the Waves” can attest.

Skarsgard gives a worthy performance in his new film, “A Somewhat Gentle Man,” but he’s let down by a slim story that becomes schmaltzy at the end.

Pony-tailed Skarsgard is the titular gentleman, Ulrik, a laconic killer just freed from 12 years in the slammer. His old boss sets him up with a job as a car mechanic, and finds him a grim room to call home.

The first thing that Merete, the secretary at the garage, tells Ulrik is: “Forget about getting in my pants.”

He does seduce her, of course, creating problems in his relationship with his grotesque landlady, who cooks dinner and provides a TV for her boarder in exchange for mechanical 60-second quickies in the sack. She enjoys them immensely; he’s bored.

Ulrik’s main interest is making up with his grown, middle-class son. He lives with his pregnant girlfriend, who isn’t thrilled at having a killer in the family.

Things get sorted out by the closing credits — which is the movie’s problem: too few surprises.