10s Movie Review - April, May en June

Director: Will Koopman
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 118 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Linda de Mol, Elise Schaap, Tjitske Reidinga, Bas Hoeflaak, Olga Zuiderhoek, Patrick Duffy, Peter Bolhuis, Gijs Scholten van Asschat, Mark Rietman, Dragan Bakema

Description: Three estranged half-sisters (Linda de Mol, Elise Schaap, Tjitske Reidinga) attempt to rekindle their feeble bond when their dying mother (Olga Zuiderhoek) implores them to take care for the their socially-challenged brother (Bas Hoeflaak)

Review: When mother Mies knows she is dying, she and het three daughters face difficult decisions. Who gets her money and the house? There is also an important condition attached to this inheritance: the one who gets everything must also take care of the heavily autistic brother Jan. June is the most logical choice, since she is the most responsible one. But June is already busy raising her own three children. April has a whole life in the US, working as a soap actress. And May especially is still figuring out her own life. And the deadline is approaching, because on her birthday Mies wants to end it.
It is difficult to get into a story, when none of the three main characters are sympathetic. The three sisters are each in their own way narcissistic, irritating and averse to any self-awareness at the moment when their mother brings them the bas news. And then they especially seem to find themselves very pathetic. As a result, even the most of the three, June, still finds it difficult to go along with her emotion when she bursts into teats as soon as the realization really sets in that her mother will soon be gone.
Maybe not very surprising when you consider that the story idea comes from lead actress Linda de Mol. It all seems that this is more of a project to caress her ego. Just think of the three professions these Dutch sisters have practices. April is a soap actress in America, June wrote for a best-selling magazine and May is trying to be a model. All three occupations that De Mol has done something with. In addition, “April, May en June” was directed by Will Koopman, who has been involved in many film and TV projects in which De Mol was also involved.
These things don’t necessarily have to result in a bad movie. And you feel that the aim was to make more of this than the sweet drama film that came out of it. All kinds of modern themes pass: caring for others, sustainability, transgenders and euthanasia. However, they don’t become much more than mentioned topics. The subjects are in the film and that is perhaps the most you can say about them.
After a false start, these three unlovable characters, for whom you can hardly cheer in the beginning, stumble their way through their imperfect lives and then all three get a reality check. And then, actually too late, you start to feel a little empathy.
Director Will Koopman doesn’t have a great reputation in my books, since I haven’t rated any of her movies higher then 2,5 stars. And this movie will not be an exception. This movie, from The Netherlands, is your typical Dutch film that tries to be too American and Hollywood. It even puts actor Patrick Duffy on the poster, when he is only in it for five minutes. And this try was not a success.

Rating: 2,5 / 5

00s Movie Review - Terug Naar de Kust

Director: Will Koopman
Genre: Thriller
Runtime: 110 minutes
Year: 2009
Starring: Linda de Mol, Huub Stapel, Pierre Bokma, Daan Schuurmans, Ariane Schluter, Jaap Spijkers, Stefan de Walle, Koen de Bouw

Description: Maria (Linda de Mol) tries to escape a stalker by moving with her children to her sister’s isolated beach house.

Review: “Terug Naar de Kust” is a movie based on the novel written by the Dutch bestselling author Saskia Noort. She decided director Will Koopman would be the best choice to adapt it to the big screen, together with her husband Lex Wertwijn, who is a screenwriter and cameraman. And where the book has a lot of tension, the movie lacks it and somehow the story lost its edge too.
Maria Vos is the mother of two and has a relationship with the impetuous Geert, with whom she plays in a band. However, the relationship between the two is very tense and she ends it. When Maria discovers she is pregnant, she decides to have an abortion. Shortly afterwards she receives a number of bizarre anonymous messages, in which she is called a murderer and gets death threats. The police advise her to ‘disappear’ for a while, when they investigate the case. Maria leaves to stay with her older sister Ans, who owns a villa by the sea. There too, however, she finds no rest; she is confronted with traumatic childhood memories, and her mental health seems to deteriorate further and further.
Director Koopman has been given a considerable cast for her feature debut. Of course there is Linda de Mol, very loved in The Netherlands and a gifted actress. In addition, she managed to stand tall against Huub Stapel (with a relatively small role) who is probably one of the best actors in The Netherlands. And there is also Ariane Schluter, Pierre Bokman and Daan Schuurmans to accompany them. With such a great star cast, little can go wrong when it comes to acting. You might say. Nevertheless, Koopman hardly manages to let any of them come to full bloom. De Mol for example, acts way below her level and Stapel has little to work with to make an impact. Schuurmans does his best and is good, the relationship between his character Geert and Maria comes off as forced and is unbelievable.
The plot lacks tension, there a too long uninteresting segments and a climax that you could see coming from a mile away. The entire film is just not captivating enough. With such source material, which did have tension and was interesting and surprising, it’s really a mystery why this movie didn’t work.

Rating: 2 / 5