Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2018
Starring: Fockeline Ouwekerk, Egbert Jan Weeber, Tarikh Janssen, Peter Faber, Annet Malherbe, Martijn Hillenius, Tina de Bruin
Description: Anne (Fockeline Ouwekerk) wants to quit her job at the Glossy because she can't write the way she wants, but when she gets to work together with the handsome Rick she changes her mind.
Review: Language and how people look at it. There are two kinds of people who are constantly minding the language. There is a know-it-all that always corrects others and really can’t stand bad grammar. And there is the observants. They constantly listen to all the words and sentences used around them, that express someone’s feelings but often don’t make sense.
The writer of the best-selling book with the same name, Paulien Cornelisse, is obviously in the last category. She wrote a bunch of columns and they eventually came together in a book. She even had a follow up book.
How do columns translate into a romantic comedy? Like I stated before, the book was a huge success in The Netherlands (I loved it, as someone who also fits in that last category). So when you’re a filmmaker, it’s pretty silly if you don’t use it as source material for a film.
Lead character Anne is very sensitive when it comes to language and can’t help herself when she hears nonsense around her, to state it out loud. You can here author Cornelisse in her narration. But it’s added to a very superficial and flat plot. It turned out to be a very standard and often cliché romcom.
Anne works for a fancy fashion magazine, as a writer. She feels like she can do more and wants to quit her job. But when she gets the chance to fill on for a co-worker and work together with the handsome photographer Rick, she decides to stay after all. And then there is her family. Her father, who is has a strong bon with, is suffering from dementia. Her mother can’t handle it and leaves for India for a few weeks. Anne’s brother and sister don’t care much for their father either, so she has to do it all by herself. Luckily for her, she gets help from her friend and colleague Timo.
The whole love triangle between Anne, Timo and Rick is super predictable and has been done way too many times. And no originality there. The strongest storyline in this film, is the one of her father. He is starting to lose the ability to put feelings into words and has a hard time to find words. And the bond between him and Anne is really beautiful.
With such great source material, it could have been a great film. Sadly, it wasn’t. Peter Faber, who plays dad Werner, saves the day. Because the scenes featuring him are the best. And I do like the narration, because that’s when you here Cornelisse speak.
Rating: 2,5 / 5
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