Schneider vs. Bax

A scene nearing the third act - no spoilers - revolves around a character (played by the writer and director) insisting there are crackers in the cabinet only to realize in fact there are no crackers in the cabinet. That pretty much sums up the movie for me. It is incredibly slow and predictable after the first build-up and plays out very systematically until the end. I was a huge fan of Borgman but this movie feels like a step backwards, like borgman made for children but messed up so it's technically for adults. But take out the guns and violence and drug references and change everyone to kids with paintball guns having a fun Saturday in the fields then wow what a movie. But we end up instead with something that comes across as incredibly pretentious, thinking itself of a higher standard than a randomized cat & mouse game movie popular in the 1980s but absolutely nothing new here. That's my opinion. I did however enjoy some of the conversations between Bax and the daughter. The drug references were also very clever.

Alex Van Warmerdam is a director with a very distinguishable cinematographic style. In most of his films, everything is just a little bit out of the ordinary, but it's hard to say why exactly. 'Schneider vs Bax' is no exception.

Nevertheless, I think this film is not as good as most of his other movies. This is a crime thriller about contract killers, and in such a film even Van Warmerdam needs a script that's tight and logical. Unfortunately, it is neither. There are strange, inexplicable events, the story swerves in all directions, and there is not really a lot of suspense.

You could argue that Van Warmerdam's unique, slightly bizarre style of film making compensates for these flaws. For some this might be the case, for me it wasn't. The unique Van Warmerdam chemistry of some of his other films didn't work as well in this one.

Still, there is much to enjoy. The phlegmatic way the killers behave, as if what they do is just as ordinary as baking a cake or driving a truck, is a nice feature. There is also the Dutch landscape of treeless lakes and flat marshes, with one wooden house in which much of the action takes place.

But overall, I think this film could have been a lot better with a script in which every action is functional and every person behaves logical. The acting was also a bit uneven. I liked Tom Dewispelaere as Schneider, but Van Warmerdam himself as Bax was less convincing. Maria Kraakman played a nice part as Bax's depressive daughter who seems to be a damsel in distress, but at the end enjoys pulling the trigger as much as the contract killers.

Schneider and Bax have a lot in common. Each is a hit man. They are both good at what they do. They also work for the same employer. Each, amazingly, has a job to do at the same time and on the same day. Also, both are targets. Each is unknowingly tasked with killing the other. This is where the similarities end however. Schneider and Bax have opposite styles, personalities and lives. Schneider is a family man, or at least he appears to be. He lives in the city and is methodical, devious and relentless in going about business. Bax, on the other hand, is carefree and lighthearted. This relaxed attitude is aided considerably by the heavy doses of drugs and alcohol he consumes. With his nightmare of a girlfriend and family, he probably needs them. As Schneider closes in on Bax the latter is visited, in turn, by his daughter, father and girlfriend, each of whom is unstable and volatile.

This thrilling dark comedy is full of twists and turns as the hit men are constantly dealing with complications they did not expect. Alex van Warmerdam also directed Borgman, which is as zany as it is creepy (I loved it). Like Borgman, Schneider vs. Bax is also very different from traditional Hollywood slop, and van Warmerdam adds much more humor to the mix this time. The acting, directing, images and storyline are all good. The film falters only in that not enough money and talent was provided in order to move the film to the next level. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

Typical Van Warmerdam movie: absurd and funny, and for most an acquired taste. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie but the ending was not satisfactory, as if they ran out of budget for a final part. Like jazz improv, I think an absurd plot should return (within reach) to a realistic home.

Two things bugged me though:

• Drug use incapacitated a number of characters at different times, which seemed nonfunctional regarding the plot, unless the argument is to be able to shift focus to other characters. In this vein, it seemed unnecessarily crowded with characters that did not seem to add much (for example, Ramon's girlfriend)
• Continuously running/locking in and out of rooms in this tiny bungalow (or through the reeds) seemed an unnecessary distraction as well, and looses its effect after a while.

I can't help but think that addressing the last two points could have been used to add a bit more depth to the characters, their relationships, or a more satisfying penultimate act.

I was not particularly interested in Schneider vs. Bax, although I am quite a Van Warmerdam-fan – especially after his magnificent movie, Borgman. I thought it would be a dark, sombre, shoot 'm up, where man's barbarous, grimy soul would be shown. But the movie proved me wrong. It is a far more comic and playful film than I suspected. Yes, it is a shoot 'm up: a hunt between two hit man. But it is as far removed from ordinary man hunt movie as can be. The grim, dark humor of Van Warmerdam, the beautiful northern Dutch water landscape and the intricate script makes it a great movie experience. Schneider vs. Bax is the next great Van Warmerdam film.