10s Movie Review - De Liefhebbers

Director: Anna van der Heide
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 96 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Jeroen Krabbé, Hadewych Minis, Theo Maassen, Beppie Melissen, Sanne Samina Hanssen, Rebecca de Nooijer, Jelka van Houten, Guy Clemens, Linde van der Storm, Aiko Beemsterboer

Description: When they are confronted with the disease of the father of the family (Jeroen Krabbé), all members of the Liefhebber family have to face their fears, faults and their troubled interrelationships.

Review: There’s so much going on in “De Liefhebbers” that you’d almost forget what the film is about: how the dad’s Alzheimer’s brings the family closer together.
There is never a good time for bad news, but in this multiple storyline film the disease that Jan has comes at the worst of times for his children. Jan’s growing forgetfulness is by no means the only crisis in the family.
Son Kasper is struggling is facing a marriage crisis, because as a busy architect he ignores his wife Laura and their four children for years. So when Kasper forgets Laura’s birthday, she suddenly takes off, leaving him alone with the four kids. The youngest of the Liefhebbers, Maria, suddenly has the biological father of her seven-year-old daughter on her doorstep. She never told anyone who her father was. Eldest son Jonathan is struggling with his homosexuality and allows no one but his cats into his life. And eldest daughter Sam lives alone in London.
The film has a strong ensemble cast and there is nothing wrong with the overall story. But there is way too much going on in a rather short amount of time. They are each dealing with their own problems and some of the individual storylines don’t execute well. Simply because too much has to be done in the limited runtime of the film. There is not enough time to develop each character properly and theirs storylines suffer from it as well.
The film didn’t succeed in telling the family’s story entirely, it only worked for a few characters. Only the storylines of Kasper and Maria have been done okay, although Kasper’s storyline eventually rushes too. But Sam and Jonathan, who I found the most interesting characters at first, we hardly get to know them and their storylines (especially Sam’s) are neglected.
“De Liefhebbers” could have been so much more, if they had just taken more time to tell the story in. That’s a shame.

Rating: 2,5 / 5

00s Movie Review - Minoes

Director: Vincent Ball
Genre: Family
Runtime: 96 minutes
Year: 2001
Starring: Carice van Houten, Theo Maassen, Sarah Bannier, Olga Zuiderhoek, Jack Wouterse, Loes Luca, Pierre Bokma, Annet Malherbe, Wim T. Schippers, Paul Haenen, Hans Teeuwen, Katja Schuurman, Hans Kesting

Description: A cat who turns into a young woman (Carice van Houten) helps a journalist (Theo Maassen) protect their town from a factory boss with an evil plan.

Review: Tibbe is a starting journalist at the Killendoornse Courant, but due to his shy nature he can’t find any scoops. The editor in chief of the newspaper gives Tibbe another chance to come up with a good story. While Tibbe has a good story to write about, he meets the remarkable Miss Minoes who sits at the top of a tree. She used to be a cat, she says. She behaves rather cat-like indeed: she purs, she prefers to sleeps in a box and she can talk to other cats. Tibbe has his doubts about Minoes, but when she helps him with exclusive news by talking to all the cats, he hires her as his assistant. In return, she can live with him. One day the cats tell Minoes that Mr. Ellemeet, factory manager and very beloved local benedactor, turns out to be a culprit. When Minoes sees to it that Tibbe publishes the dark secrets of Mr. Ellemeet, all the citizens of Killendoorn turn agains Tibbe. However, Tibbe refuses to rectify his story, and is immediately dismissed.
Minoes is based on the famous children’s book by beloved Dutch children’s book author Annie M.G. Schmidt. She has conquered the hearts of young and old for generations with her heartwarming and humorous stories. This story was skillfully adapted to film.
Theo Maassen plays the role of Tibbe, who is mostly known as a stand-up comedian and this was his first role in a feature film. And since his comedy act is often very harsh, it’s a lot of fun to see him in such a timid, sweet role. Carice van Houten, who we now know as Melisandre from “Game of Thrones”, plays the titular character. She had already played various roles in Dutch films and even won a Golden Calf in 1999 for her role in “Suzy Q”. In “Minoes” is clear why she is one of The Netherland’s nationals treasures in the acting business.
“Minoes” is a wonderful family film, such a kindhearted movie that will put a smile on your face.

Rating: 3,5/ 5