markvanwasbeek

I remember being 13 wanting to rent this movie at the videostore. I had to go back and get a permission slip from my mom or the guy wouldn't rent it to me. After I watched it as a 13-year old, I kinda understood. I'm 39 now and watched it again yesterday (although I still have it on dvd somewhere). I understand it better now.

This movie is top 5 best movies for me. Edward Norton gives his best performance, better than all the movies he did later. The casting overall is superb. On an emotional level it hits harder now though.

Maybe because nothing has changed. Still the same rhetoric, still the same problems. Or maybe I'm more empathetic this age. Maybe it's a midlife crisis who knows.

Point being, this movie still very much holds up after 26 years, aged like fine wine even.

This is a must-see for anyone who has teens and you should let them watch it too. Or anyone without teens for that matter. Like Requiem for a dream it should be standard for everyone. It's a relic of the 90s. 9.5/10.

The name really doesn't cover the load of this movie. Yes, the Dutch gabber scene acts as a glue for the story but the movie is more a coming of age and family drama.

I wasn't familiar with the actors but they did an excellent job. Especially Jim Deddes as Danny (reference to Vinyard from American History X?). He really did remind me of my brother back in the days, and as in American History X his little brother in this movie looks up to his brother while he actually shouldn't, albeit for different reasons.

The only thing that bothered me were the insanely stupid choices the Danny character made.

For international audiences, skinheads in this movie are not like American ones, it was style of the subculture like the Nikes and Australian tracksuits.

In that regard the director also did an amazing job portraying Netherlands of the 90s. So well I felt nostalgia for most of the film.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes a good family drama, but especially to Dutch people or the ones that liked or still like the rave scene.

I am glad the Flemish producers of the hit-show Undercover decided to deepen the most interesting storyline, that of drug kingpin Ferry. The first season of Undercover was the best, although the later seasons are pretty good too. You can't help but see the reminiscence to Breaking Bad though (Ferry is Walter, Daniëlle is Skyler, Lars is Jesse and John is Mike). Even the goonie friends of Dutch-Jesse are present. But as a Dutch saying goes, better stolen properly than made-up poorly :) In that sense it does a great job. The portrayal of the underground synthetic drug scene is a major problem down in the south here, and the acting is spot on. The character Ferry feels more fleshed out the longer Frank Lammers plays it, which can be weird since this show is set before the first season of Undercover. I just love Elise Schaap, in this part but she seems to be a really nice person too.

Casting for Lars is perfect too, before this I only knew Yannick van de Velde from the SUPER funny Rundfunk show and movie Jachterwachter.

The production seems on par with American standards, which should make this show more appealing abroad.

If you liked Breaking Bad, Top Boy or other drug related crime dramas, and you feel like having a look into the Dutch underworld, this is definitely for you.

Watch the movie Ferry first though, for background purposes. And watch it in Dutch with subtitles. Otherwise the sublteties will be lost in translation.