Phileine zegt sorry

'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.

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.

At most times books and movies have very different styles and completely different constructed stories. Some of the book stories and styles simply don't translate well to the big screen. The book "Phileine zegt sorry" written by Ronald Giphart is one of those books that doesn't translate well to the big screen. As a movie "Phileine zegt sorry" leaves a pointless impression. It's one of those movies which makes you wonder after you have seen it; Why did I even watched this in the first place?

It's pretty obvious throughout the entire movie that it's one based on a novel. It features some typical book elements that I'm sure work well in the book but feel completely pointless in the movie. It also has some characters walking around in the movie that feel absolutely pointless and serve no purpose at all. On top of that it's incredibly irritating that most of the New York characters are played by Dutch actors, almost as if there weren't any available actors in New York. their American-Dutch accents are notable and at points even irritating.

The two main actors Kim van Kooten and Michiel Huisman are really great but van Kooten couldn't prevent me from being irritated by her character Phileine at times. Her character is over-the-top and really pushes it at times. I would had dumped her almost immediately! but again, this is not van Kooten's fault, she plays her character with lots of profession and passion., simply blame the story.

Appereantly this was supposed to be a comedy but there are no real laughs here. Also as a drama it isn't serious enough. I think this is the main reason why this movie leaves an overall pointless impression. The movie is just mostly about Phileine talking rudely about mainly sex and acting like an uncontrollable young hormone filled-woman.

The movie however deserves credit for how it looks. The cinematography by Bart Pot is most excellent, especially for the scene's in New York, where this movie is set for about two-third of the entire movie. The editing by Peter Alderliesten keeps the pace high. Robert Jan Westdijk isn't an horrible director he has just been given horrible material to work with.

I can't think of any reason why someone should ever watch this movie.

4/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

I have read the book and I laughed. I saw the movie on the Dutch Film Festivl and I laughed. I'm thinking back to the scene where Phileine is intending to give Max the pleasure of his life and I'm laughing. This is by far the most humoristic Dutch movie I saw in my life!

I have not read the novel but I liked this picture because of the many quick mood changes.

There are so many emotions that change quickly all the time. One time the characters in the picture are serious and then one minute later everyone is laughing. And the next minute Philene and Max have some sort of serious conversation. You maintain watching this picture because all emotions occur so fast after one another.

What I also liked in this picture was the age of the characters. It looks like they are in their mid-twenties or something. I can imagine that the same story could apply to teenagers but also to people above 60.

That's my opinion. Nice movie!