Dossier K.

After the ending credits I thought to myself: "what a waste of time". I was looking forward to this movie since it was going to be the sequel of the great action thriller "de zaak alzheimer" (alias the memory of a killer). It turns out to be rubbish.

The acting is unnatural and the used language is annoying. There are lot's of different dialects in Belgium and each one has it's own characteristics but how they used this surplus in the movie is just awful. There is a whole conversation made in "common civilized dutch" and suddenly you notice how the crew thought: "hey, let's make our actors more humane by using 1 typical, language bound dialect word".

The result is a non interesting conversation with a really irritating sound. Where the predecessor got you wondering, shivering and thinking this one just feeds you with the most logical images, dialogues and events. It's like they thought:"let us take a good story and mix it with some stereotypical police flick action".

If you feel like watching a brain-dead, non challenging police movie, be my guest. BUT if your expectations are as high as the ones "de zaak alzheimer" left you with, then don't!

Just don't....

Dossier K is a very well-made thriller, with all the right ingredients. It has an intelligent plot with an exotic Albanian twist, good use of locations in Antwerp, interesting characters even for some of the bad guys, some exciting shoot-outs and car crashes, and a hint of romance. It's a high-paced, adrenalin-soaked movie without any flaws.

On the other hand: it's just that. A well made thriller, a little bit better than the run-of-the-mill Hollywood product, but not much. It's quality entertainment, but not a movie that sticks in your mind afterward. Nor does it offer any food for thought or discussion. The good thing is, it doesn't pretend to be more than it is.

I think I would have liked it more if it had spoken only from the inside mafia point of view, and not from the police investigation angle. Directing is OK, so the acting, but only the story telling is a bit inadequate, improper for this kind of plot. But it is a good crime film speaking of the Albabian mafia, as were KANUN and HYENA; forget the rest, TAKEN crap for instance, where they use Albaninan mafia but certainly never really speak about it. This Belgian movie is worth watching despite some lengths, because the investigation scheme which I really dislike. I recommend it to crime thriller fans.

Police thrillers (or thrillers in general) are nowadays being made for TV. And I'm not saying that in a derogative way. TV shows have a high quality nowadays. Still many people wouldn't bother watching the shows and/or the movies. If you are one of those people then you might be wrong here.

Might because this Belgian movie could be good enough for you to like, even if you don't consider yourself a fan of crime. The good thing is that since the movie stays true throughout its running time, you will now once you are into the movie. After the initial 5-10 minutes you should have figured out, if this movie is worth your while.

Nicely acted and with a story to back that up, this is just another entry from Belgium in the Thriller genre in the recent years. They might be up to something over there. And it's nice to see that they have the scriptwriting talent to match their acting generation.

this is one of the finer products of Belgian cinema.

jan verheyen, truly transcended his own abilities, by delivering this excellent piece of work. this is a very well directed story, brought in a gritty, visual style. the acting is class. the story is wel paced, balanced.the casting was beyond excellent.especially the Albanian actors convinced very much. also an impressive composed soundtrack which have all the right elements to translate the gloominess , drama and tragedy very well.

if you like drama, you'll love this, if you like crimemovies, I can recommend this the only minor point to me are some jokes, but those that didn't ruin the whole movie experience for me. highly recommendable, not only for Belgian/dutch/Albanian people, but truly for everyone