Because I really like and admire Carice van Houten I got a hold of this movie and watched it. I did, I hung in there, although I was tempted at least half a dozen times to hit the 'stop' button. This movie sucks. It really does. There's not one redeeming quality about it. Not one. On the other hand, there are plenty things that condemn it.
For instance, the music. In the history of film making there has never been a movie with a more inconsistent score. One minute it's operatic singing, next minute we get a mind-numbing dance drone. And classic again, then house again. And so on...
The characters. Stijn really is the lowest of the low. Even though his wife knows he will cheat on her on occasion, he still finds it necessary to dish her crap stories of going for a drink with a friend. It makes you loathe him, not hate, because he's not worth it. Just loathe. Carmen is a little better, although, as one other reviewer stated, she withdrew her divorce threat way too easily. Still, having to endure all the hardships of chemo, then radiation, then having her breast amputated, she at least shows some spirit.
The scenes. The story is shot in Amsterdam, one on the most crowded places on the face of the earth. Yet, when Carmen stops the car in the middle of the road in a tunnel, there are no other cars bumping into them, flashing their headlights or honking their horns. One car comes by approximately every minute. In Amsterdam? Yeah, right. Even at 3 a.m. there's heavy traffic. The same thing happens when Stijn is driving drunk and hits a couple of other cars. We see an empty crossing, no cyclists, nobody coming out of their houses to see what all the noise is about. Nada. Weird...
The plot. On a number of occasions, when Carmen needs to go to the hospital, or to the doctor, and Stijn decides to have sex with his 'spare woman', we are led to believe that the little girl, no older than 5, is left alone in the house. At least, when Stijn finally arrives back, I don't see a babysitter, there's no mention of parents staying over or anything like that. There should have been...
The direction. It appears that when you are famous in the Netherlands, you can do just about anything you want, for instance, direct a movie. Lack of experience, even lack of talent, is no obstacle. Maybe Reinout Oerlemans does have talent, but it doesn't show in this film. Like other reviewers stated, there are plenty of nude scenes, most of them totally obsolete, the protagonists hop on planes to various global destinations, again without ever seeming to provide care for their kid. And what bugs me also, is the abundant swearing. It's cancer this and cancer that (in Dutch the term cancer 'kanker', like many other serious diseases, is frequently used as an adjective, very much in the same vein as Americans use f..king). Which brings me to another weak point: the dialogue. It seems nobody can speak proper Dutch anymore. Carmen at one point says: "Mensen kijken zielig naar me". This means "People are looking at me pathetically". What she should have said, is "People are looking at me with sympathy/empathy" ("Mensen kijken medelijdend naar me"). And the list goes on...and on...and on...
But where the movie really fails, is on the emotional level. I'm a softy, when Bambi's mother gets shot, I yank out my handkerchief. Yet this film did not move me one bit. The only emotion I felt is when I tried to identify with the little girl, having lost my own father to cancer when I was eight. But this is hardly a merit of the film.
So...to sum it up. Bad script, bad music, poor direction, not worth wasting nearly two hours of your live on.
For instance, the music. In the history of film making there has never been a movie with a more inconsistent score. One minute it's operatic singing, next minute we get a mind-numbing dance drone. And classic again, then house again. And so on...
The characters. Stijn really is the lowest of the low. Even though his wife knows he will cheat on her on occasion, he still finds it necessary to dish her crap stories of going for a drink with a friend. It makes you loathe him, not hate, because he's not worth it. Just loathe. Carmen is a little better, although, as one other reviewer stated, she withdrew her divorce threat way too easily. Still, having to endure all the hardships of chemo, then radiation, then having her breast amputated, she at least shows some spirit.
The scenes. The story is shot in Amsterdam, one on the most crowded places on the face of the earth. Yet, when Carmen stops the car in the middle of the road in a tunnel, there are no other cars bumping into them, flashing their headlights or honking their horns. One car comes by approximately every minute. In Amsterdam? Yeah, right. Even at 3 a.m. there's heavy traffic. The same thing happens when Stijn is driving drunk and hits a couple of other cars. We see an empty crossing, no cyclists, nobody coming out of their houses to see what all the noise is about. Nada. Weird...
The plot. On a number of occasions, when Carmen needs to go to the hospital, or to the doctor, and Stijn decides to have sex with his 'spare woman', we are led to believe that the little girl, no older than 5, is left alone in the house. At least, when Stijn finally arrives back, I don't see a babysitter, there's no mention of parents staying over or anything like that. There should have been...
The direction. It appears that when you are famous in the Netherlands, you can do just about anything you want, for instance, direct a movie. Lack of experience, even lack of talent, is no obstacle. Maybe Reinout Oerlemans does have talent, but it doesn't show in this film. Like other reviewers stated, there are plenty of nude scenes, most of them totally obsolete, the protagonists hop on planes to various global destinations, again without ever seeming to provide care for their kid. And what bugs me also, is the abundant swearing. It's cancer this and cancer that (in Dutch the term cancer 'kanker', like many other serious diseases, is frequently used as an adjective, very much in the same vein as Americans use f..king). Which brings me to another weak point: the dialogue. It seems nobody can speak proper Dutch anymore. Carmen at one point says: "Mensen kijken zielig naar me". This means "People are looking at me pathetically". What she should have said, is "People are looking at me with sympathy/empathy" ("Mensen kijken medelijdend naar me"). And the list goes on...and on...and on...
But where the movie really fails, is on the emotional level. I'm a softy, when Bambi's mother gets shot, I yank out my handkerchief. Yet this film did not move me one bit. The only emotion I felt is when I tried to identify with the little girl, having lost my own father to cancer when I was eight. But this is hardly a merit of the film.
So...to sum it up. Bad script, bad music, poor direction, not worth wasting nearly two hours of your live on.