Phileine zegt sorry

I have read the book and I laughed. I saw the movie on the Dutch Film Festivl and I laughed. I'm thinking back to the scene where Phileine is intending to give Max the pleasure of his life and I'm laughing. This is by far the most humoristic Dutch movie I saw in my life!

This was the first Dutch movie I've ever seen in the theaters. I've got the book, though I've only read the first couple of chapters. I suppose I really should go back and read it further, because it started out cool, I just got distracted.

The author of the book actually says in the movie that he likes the book better than the movie, and oh can I believe it! I really didn't expect anything like this... one of the main reasons I went was because a friend of mine wanted to go and stare at Michiel Huisman. I was seriously impressed. It had everything from fun to anger to.. how the actors dealt with the final scenes was absolutely breathtaking, sitting on the edge of your seat drama. Let's just say this movie has everything from throwing rocks through windows (don't ask) to pretending to come in a classy New York restaurant (as I said, don't ask) and a pornographic version of Romeo and Juliet (I think the only lines in it were: "Where for art thou, Romeo?" and a whole lot of groans...) and an absolutely beautifully shown character development.

Right. I'm practically rambling. I'll make my point. I enjoyed this movie. It had a bit of everything and I left the theater happy. I gave it an 8/10.

'Phileine zegt sorry' is an adaptation of a Ronald Giphart novel (he's in the film, praising the film as better than the book). His novels are notorious for sexual explicitness, humor and lightness of tone. The film manages to capture this tone. This makes it an entertaining film with Ally MacBeal-like effects to emphasize the emotions of the lead character (Phileine). The cosmopolitan attitude of the characters, the sexual explicitness and the place of action (New York) gives it a Sex and the City touch. So the atmosphere is OK. However the film just doesn't give enough story to make it great. In the book this lack isn't a problem, however film is (as we all know) a different medium. The story line is too thin and sometimes not very credible. This is also due to the the low level performance of some the actors (especially the 'American' characters). Kim van Kooten however gives a superb performance and is a good enough reason to go and see it.

So 'Phileine zegt sorry' is not a memorable meal but a nice expensive snack.

I have not read the novel but I liked this picture because of the many quick mood changes.

There are so many emotions that change quickly all the time. One time the characters in the picture are serious and then one minute later everyone is laughing. And the next minute Philene and Max have some sort of serious conversation. You maintain watching this picture because all emotions occur so fast after one another.

What I also liked in this picture was the age of the characters. It looks like they are in their mid-twenties or something. I can imagine that the same story could apply to teenagers but also to people above 60.

That's my opinion. Nice movie!

This film is rather absurd and weird at times, having opposite effects. At some moments the absurdness of the film, works in it's favor and at other moments it clearly does not. The introduction sequence, for instance, which at first seems to be an homage to James Bond, quickly becomes strange (maybe unappetizing) for many people and if you ask me, there is no sense in that scene with the ‘oldies' whatsoever. Another perfect example is the scene in which Phileine is in outer space ‘dancing' to some music. This scene does make a bit more sense than the one described before, but is just too lengthy as are other scenes in the film and as a matter of fact, the ending as well. But no feat, not everything is bad in this film. The film is pretty good, until Phileine (Kim van Kooten) meets Joanne (Leona Philippo). From that point on there appear the first signs of weakness, the mentioned lengthy and sometimes unnecessary scenes. From that point on the film manages to go on on a pretty good level, but I found it to be less than the first bit and the film actually hits rock-bottom in it's end, which is way too lengthy. If it wouldn't have been for the ‘screamer' ending, this one would have gotten a 7 out of 10. But the way it is it does not deserve it. Sure the film delivers some laughs, sure there is a lot of female sex talk, but in the end it is only moderately enjoyable, due to the unsatisfying ending that remains in mind. Even females, who are in fact the target audience, should see that.

6,75 out of 10

PS: At least it COULD have been better