Menace sur la Maison Blanche

I watched the first 15mins and there was not one English word, and no subtitles. Maybe that changed later on but if I do not need to know what the actors are saying, there's little point them saying it perhaps. Various discussions about the daughter, and their day ahead, maybe one of them is 'in on it'... who knows, as it was all Dutch to me. Gave up.

This new movie from director Erik Van Looy is honestly one of the most well made movies ever made in Belgium. It takes the usual Belgian movie tropes but also adds a lot of American influences. There are a lot of unexpected twists that add to the social commentary of the current political climate. Besides this, the performance from main lead Koen De Bouw is astounding. Together with the amazing soundtrack the movie has a lot of suspense that kept me on the edge of my seat, never checking my phone or anything. You are really enthralled into the story. The best character in the movie is by far the Driver who is not all that meets the eye. In the end this is a really well made thriller suitable for a wide audience that will grip you till the end.

I so wanted to enjoy this.

I loved Koen De Bouw in Professor T and after being a bit let down with him only being a support actor in Red Light, I found this which was from the same era as P. T. with him looking rather similar.

Eventually, I found a version with English subtitles which was a help (perhaps they were hard to find as some of it was in English anyway).

Seeing a few guest stars from P. T. was a boost but the film itself was a let down and a beyond credibility but at least, unlike many films and TV shows here in the UK, it wasn't plastered with political correctness (so tired at mandatory same-sex relationships and a higher than average number of ethnic minorities in shows these days).

The music brought some suspense but unfortunately it didn't reflect the poor scenes on screen. So disappointed. Off to watch The Team now. Koen has a small role but hope his character has gravitas.

Erik van Looy is one of Belgiums most beloved celebrities. He hosts the popular show De Slimste Mens (The Smartest Man) and is famous for his eccentric laugh. As a moviemaker his biggest succes were Loft and The Memory of a Killer, with the Belgian Robert De Niro: Jan Decleir.

This movie however triumphs in stupidity and cringeworthyness. The plot is full of holes, the protagonist acts like a wooden stick, and dialogues seem to be written by five year olds. I watched this film twice, it even being worse the second time around.

The only positive part about the film is the performance of the driver, who is able to bring a little smile on your face once in a while.

3/10, for Stijn Van Opstal. Without him, it would be 1/10.

The good: high pace, exciting, 2 hours of hard suspense. Decent (but not overwhelming) acting performances. Dark, grim atmosphere throughout the whole movie. I didn't get bored for a second. Many similarities to De Zaak Alzheimer, but with an even higher tempo.

The not so good: bad, sometimes even corny plot twists. Certain things were just too unrealistic and could have been done better. It seems to me that either they had to cut the movie to fit within 120 minutes or they were out of money. The ending was disappointing, compared to the rest of the film.

It does make me think about how a situation like this would play out in real life. Let's hope that it never comes to that.