Week-end Sans-gêne

Fijn weekend sets itself apart from most other Dutch movies by not being particularly bad, but that doesn't do it any service. It's neither entertaining to watch seriously nor ironically and just kind of end up being a whole bunch of potential that fails to stick the landing.

Let's start with the positives. The premise of the movie is actually pretty interesting. A tightly knit group of friends travels to a French chateau where a now-deceased friend would hold a yearly minigame competition. As they plan to hold one last competition before scattering his ashes, the deceased friends ex shows up with a new fling who shakes up the groups already wobbly dynamics. There's a lot of potential for humor, drama and heart here, and the cast does a pretty great job acting-wise. They could have definitely pulled this off.

Notice I said could, because unfortunately the writing ends up being abysmal. There's way too much going on in terms of emotions and group dynamics and the movie somehow manages to both have dialogue that's incredibly clunky and on the nose, as well as being very difficult to follow. You'll spend a big portion of the movie trying to figure out how everyone is related and what's going on. Storybeats come out of absolutely nowhere and some character arcs just kind of pop up and are never resolved. Not that you really care by the end, because most characters are horrible people that are difficult to sympathize with. The movie sort of hints that it's their underlying grief that causes this, and tries to use it in the big finale, but does way too little to earn this.

I wish I could say this would have been a great story if it had had more breathing room, for example by being a series. Despite how bloated it is, however, this movie wastes so much time on things like an unnecessarily long montage and sex scenes that go nowhere. I'm sure there are writers out there who could have made it work, but these guys just weren't them.

Unlike most other Dutch movies, this movie tries really hard. I appreciate and respect that, but when the writing isn't there, the end result comes off as pretentious.

Fijn Weekend is well performed, especially by Caroline Spoor, who gave such a natural performance. She is a revelation, a great actress with international allure! The film is made in the country side in France which gives the film an international flair. Although it is a sad story, the fact that sadness is combined with good black humour, makes the movie a feel good one after all. It is interesting to see how even close friends have a lot of secrets, although you think they know each other really well. A good reflection of real life, where reality is nothing what you actually think it is. Go and see Fijn Weekend!

Fijn weekend is a new comedy directed, part written and produced by Homies director Jon Karthaus. Jon Karthaus also plays a character in this film.

In the film, family members go with their partners and demented father to the French Burgundy, where they used to go as a family. This time they gather here for a memorial weekend and will scatter the ashes of their deceased brother and friend here.

When Evelien (Lisa Zweerman) arrives too late with her new love Bram (Kay Greidanus), an uneasy atmosphere suddenly arises between everyone. Despite this atmosphere, as family and friends they just try to continue their traditions for one last time. This time everything is just different than they were used to.

With this movie, Jon Karthaus and the rest of the movie cast and crew seem to have come up with the idea for this movie together. In addition to Jon Karthaus, others from the film cast also co-wrote the story of the final film. For some of them this is only their first writing. For others who have written something before in the front of a film, this writing also remains a bit on the starting side. The fact that a story has been written with four people, some of whom are still on the inexperienced side, can be seen in the film itself. Many things like the characters or events are not given a clear background or further explanation. For example, you hardly know what everyone's relationship is, or what the rules are for the different games they play together. For example, it sometimes seems as if you are looking at holiday images of strange people that you do not know yourself.

This film is also reminiscent of a comedy made by actor Adam Sandler. With his Grown Ups films, for example, he would take befriended actors to a beautiful place to have the film played here, but otherwise he made little effort to really make something beautiful or comical of these films. Just like in such films of his, the most laughed is also by the film cast themselves in this film. The comedy of the film is much on the predictable or forced side, so there is not really much to laugh about anymore. The story itself is also a bit odd and sloppy. Characters often make separate decisions at the wrong moments, so that as a viewer, despite the fact that the film is a comedy, it is sometimes difficult to take it seriously. Many of these strange decisions seem unrealistic.

Due to the lack of explanation and the separate actions that the characters sometimes undergo, the acting does not come out so strongly. Only when you learn about the relationships between the different characters later in the film can you better understand why they react to certain things the way they do. On the other hand, it does create extra discomfort between the characters and for you as a viewer.

No pun intended - the movie seems quite dark for the tag comedy - but after watching it I can see it. I would call it a drama myself, but I get it. Weird situations can come up, relationships get tested ... and one weird sexual encounter (after some infidelity) is really completely crazy - and that is putting it mildly.

The acting is good and the movie does have some twists I did not see coming - but I also wasn't thinking too much while I was watching it. So maybe you'll be able to guess a few things that I did not. That all said, the movie holds its tone from start to finish and if you dig how this conducts itself, you will have fun ... weird fun, but fun nonetheless.

A lovely slow-moving fun film with packed black humour and racy encounters. Great production. A gorgeous chateau in rural France. Lots of sunlight and natural lighting. Slow arthouse cinema done properly.

Beautiful score with some nice old rock'n'roll thrown in. Solid acting; especially Steef de Bot and Sarah Chronis. It's Dutch friends on holiday in rural France and participating in their own "Oly Olympics" whilst missing a close member of the group who has recently passed, who is Oly.

The "Oly Olympics" would also have been an appropriate name for the film as this is the core subject. It's nice slow-paced arthouse with quirky gags and slapstick humour.

It's the perfect antidote movie to the CGI special effects glamour movies and it's a nice fun film to enjoy in the evening. Particularly with a fine Burgundy. It's a nice gem on Netflix and I for one want more quirky and amusing films like this. A nice movie!

There's a pungent romance about a gathering of friends celebrating the loss of a loved one and this movie encapsulates a hard subject perfectly. Just wait for the baby scene. 8/10.