Having to repeat the role of Lisbeth Salander in the US version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” after the success of Noomi Rapace in the Swedish one, must at first have seemed a thankless job, but American actress Rooney Mara is getting rave reviews.

Although the American film gets a somewhat cool early reception, everybody loves Mara.

David Denby in The New Yorker writes that Mara makes every scene that she appears in jump, and Dave Calhoun in Time Out says: “It’s a storming performance that gives the film its soul.” Katey Rich in Cinema Blend: “Rooney Mara's blazing, uncompromising performance is the film's center, practically its reason to exist.” Todd McCarthy in The Hollywood Reporter: “…she goes all the way in a performance that compares favorably to that of Noomi Rapace in the Swedish version and its two sequels. She comes across here as the real deal." Jeffrey Wells in Hollywood Elsewhere: "Mara, I feel, gives Salander a sadder and more vulnerable aura and a more emotionally readable quality than what Noomi Rapace delivered in the Swedish trilogy.” The film, directed by David Fincher, hits theaters next week.

The Hollywood production opens at movie theaters already Dec. 20. More info, see http://www.dragontattoo.com