Uma Namorada dos Diabos

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.

Well, I have to admit that I (like most of the people from Holland) think most of the Dutch movies are plain bad. Seriously. Most of the time, I even got a good reason for that because most Dutch movies are bad. But it wouldn't be fair if I'd call this movie bad.

Phileine zegt sorry is a very good movie to Dutch standards. OK, Ronald Giphart is definitely not the most literal Dutch writer and he really overuses sex in his books, but isn't that typical for Dutch writers? In fact, aren't Dutch movies known for that too? Turkish Delight is a good Dutch movie, yet has a lot of sex in it. Oh well, I think I should tell you what makes me like this movie, not what makes it less bad.

I think Kim van Kooten is great as Phileine. OK, she might overdo the bitchiness sometimes, but most of the time the girl's just good. She has a good timing for one-liners and even though even I (as a 16 year old... No, we're not brainless) think Ronald Giphart overuses cursing in his books, Kim van Kooten makes Phileine enjoyable to look at and listen to.

I really like the movie's soundtrack, as, throughout the movie, it just seems to fit in the place where it is.

I like a lot of the scenes in the movie, as I think there's enough emotion in it to make it an enjoyable movie. Yes, call me crazy, but I thought the end-scene was very emotional. This might be because I'm still young and I have no life-experience whatsoever, or something, but just because I'm a teenager doesn't mean I'm emotionless.

But there are some bad points in the movie too. For example, the dutch actors that pretend to be American. Bad English or American accents in a movie really irritate me, and because a lot of Dutch people don't have a perfect English accent I don't think they should be portrayed as English or American. I found this especially annoying in Kenan Raven's case. But then again, I think Kenan Raven is annoying to begin with. His face looks completely emotionless to me.

I thought some scenes in the movie were pointless. For example, you had Gulpje and the guy from the restaurant. The whole restaurant scene was rather pointless, just like a few other scenes.

But I liked most of the movie. I don't think everyone will like it as it's dutch and therefore a bit sexistic, but I do recommend it to people my age.

7/10.

Sex sells. That is something Dutch author Ronald Giphart is very well aware of. This was evident in the first filmed novel by the author: 'Ik Ook Van Jou' but even more in 'Phileine Zegt Sorry' (Phileine Says Sorry).

The original novel is hilarious, quick, witty, from a female perspective, but written by a heterosexual male author. The novel is full of quick one-liners and so is this move ('I believe in sex at first sight' and 'We don't care you have a low self-esteem, just don't bother us with it').

The thing is a quite weak story as 'Phileine' demands a quick witty approach, which Robert-Jan Westdijk (the director) seems to be perfectly able at. He seems to have understood what the story is all about: Phileine, a super-bitch, follows her boyfriend Max to New York, where she finds out about the rather exclusive approach he's giving to Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Although the movie is quick it has quite some flaws. Westdijk doesn't take enough time to finish off some crucial scenes. The final scene has been handled off quite fast and almost messy and the movie really lacks emotion at times. Westdijk doesn't seem to wanna fall in the pit called 'false sentiment' but in stead of carefully avoiding it he doesn't seem to use any of it in 'Phileine'. To be perfectly honest one wouldn't care less whether or not Phileine regains the love of Max or how she handles it. She's a bitch, so she'll survive and go on with her live.

Kim van Kooten however is perfectly cast and throws in the one-liners one at a time from scratch. Michiel Huisman may be nice to look at (all pumped up) but is rather disappointing as the flat character of Max. This is also due to his rather poor acting qualities. Roeland Fernhout's part as the androgynous Jules is unforgettable and could have used deserved more screen time.

The novel already makes use of too many character with their individual story-lines that push away the main story-line: the one between Phileine and Max, but in the movie this gets annoying at points.

Fortunately Westdijk's quick approach makes up for a lot but not for everything. 'Sometimes the movie is just better than the movie', says author Giphart in a cameo (please no more cameos in any of his movies!). I am afraid I have to disagree with him. But then again: is the movie ever better than the novel?

Still 'Phileine Zegt Sorry' speeds up hope for the Dutch movie industry (especially now that governmental finance has been abolished) and especially for Dutch rom-coms.

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.