Missing Link

A good script, fine acting (though a bit stiff, as usual in Dutch films), humor and vision admirably well integrated. A film that deserves more attention than it got when it premiered (but that is also usual for Dutch films).

MISSING LINK is the story of a dreamy eleven-year-old boy named Rick, who lives with his mother Lydia in a small town in the Netherlands. Rick never knew his father, an RAF pilot - he was shot down in the war when Rick was an infant. It is now 1955. At school, Rick sees a film about the Congo and comes under the spell of Darkest Africa. He reads in a newspaper that an expedition led by Professor Oudewetering will set out from Brussels to the Congo in search of the "Missing Link." Rick is convinced that the expedition is searching in the wrong place and runs away from home to visit the professor in person. During the chaotic journey, he reads his mother's old diary. What Rick finds in his mother's memoirs causes his world to collapse and forces Rick to take a big step towards growing up...

I've seen this movie a couple of times now and like all older Dutch movies, it isn't extremely good. Even though, unlike the majority of the people, I think the newer movies aren't that much better anyway. I think some of the young actors were pretty good in that movie, considering their age and no experience in doing movies. Especially this guy Tommy Meijdam, he had only a small part, but I can see how this was just the start of his career. He has done some underground stuff and I think he is going to come back big soon with a commercial thing, so I'm going to keep my eyes out.

I saw him very recently and it seems his work on the screen has only improved and he seems to be ready for a big break soon enough. Grab the popcorn and sit yourself down on the couch, it's going to be a good future for Dutch movies!