Phileine zegt sorry

'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.

Based on the popular Ducth book by Ronald Giphart, who even has a cameo appearance to say the movie is better than his own book, 'Phileine Zegt Sorry' ('Phileine Says Sorry') is a movie that has some pretty funny moments but is not very special. The humor that was there in the book sometimes works on the screen but most of the time it does not. One thing that most people do agree on is that Kim van Kooten is the perfect Phileine, and her performance is in the spirit of the book.

Still, some things just don't work on screen. The style of writer Giphart is very important in his books and director Robert Jan Westdijk has tried to translate the style to the screen. Sometimes it gives us some nice moments but very often it fails and therefore things look strange. I think the movie is fun enough to watch and Van Kooten is worth to see it, but just don't expect too much.

Too little depth, too bad. Following the book by Ronald Giphart word for word, this movie doesn't have much to say. It doesn't fascinate the viewer, it's just another love story that has been tried to make interesting by making the main character talk into the camera in the middle of some scenes. Makes you remember Saved by the bell and Ally McBeal. The Lead-role is played by Kim van Kooten, and if you like brunettes you'll probably like her. Good for you because the sex-scenes could make up for lack of story / plot-line. She ends up saying she's sorry for all the things she's done, big deal. This scene (which should be the climax of the movie) doesn't seem to express it's importance to the viewer. An average movie that has some humorous scenes in it and Kim van Kooten is a very attractive woman ;)

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

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!