steenvreter29

Tim Krabbe is the praised author of 'Het Gouden Ei', a novel that was put on the screen twice ('Spoorloos' and 'The Vanishing'). One of the Dutch writer's more recent works is 'De Grot', a psychological thriller about two totally different men, Egon and Axel, who meet at a youth camp and, surprising enough, become friends for dear life. Egon is a quiet, somewhat dull person, who spends his time studying and writing geography books. Axel, on the other hand, is a charismatic 'party-animal', a heavy drinking criminal whose everyday's concern is to get a woman into his bedroom. From the moment they meet, Axel has a strong influence on Egon, while the latter envies him because he has a good life without really doing anything (such as reading thick books like Egon); ultimately, Egon is even dragged by Egon into illegal practices himself, which leads to a fatal drug transport in a distant Asian country.

After having read the book last year, I was surprised the critics were quite positive about it. In my opinion, the book suffers especially from the complex structure. While Krabbe presents the story as an absorbing portrait of an uncommon relationship between two people, the plot becomes more of a puzzle: the many episodes are not presented chronologically, so that two successive scenes are seldom in the same episode. Because of this, the story feels surprisingly remote: you often need to know a character's background to really care for him or her. Another complaint was the fact that the main characters, Egon and Axel, are a little stereotypical. Egon IS 'the' dull intellectual, while Axel IS his exact opposite. In real life, such one-dimensional people rarely exist; in books and films, they always seem to be there, taking away a lot of credibility.

Despite all this, the film was a pleasant surprise, being much better than the book. The adaptation excels in its beautiful cinematography, humour and acting: Fedja van Huet (Egon) is one of the few Dutch actors who can make you forget he IS acting (which is, in my opinion, the highest an actor can achieve). The drawbacks of the film, however, are the same as the book's: mainly because the characters are one-dimensional, they are so predictable that it becomes annoying. Guess who wrote the script? Indeed, Krabbe himself. It is obvious that this talented director (that's what the movie makes clear anyway) is hampered by a deficient screenplay. Perhaps Koolhoven should just have chosen a better book.

7/10

When bartender Randy (Matt Dillon) leaves McCool's after a hard night of work, he sees a girl about to get raped in a car and 'delivers' her. The girl, Jewel, who turns out to be enormously attractive, comes along with him to his home, whereupon they make love to each other. A little later Randy finds out that the 'rape' in the car was a trick to rob him. Jewel, however, finally chooses for Randy when she kills her 'partner'. Afterwards the two become a couple, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't do any seducing anymore...

If I am being rational, I have to admit that this is a dumb movie, with an inveracious plot and a lot of coincidences. But 'One night at McCool's' is one of those movies in which these weaknesses can't stop you from enjoying it. In my opinion a comedy is successful when it makes you laugh and keeps you amused from the beginning until the end. That's why I can say that this is a great comedy, because it kept me on the edge of my seat for the full 93 minutes and I sometimes couldn't stop laughing. Plus, 'McCool's' contains one of the sexiest chicks I have ever seen in a movie: Liv Tyler, who plays 'femme fatale' Jewel. Therefore the fact that the entire supporting cast is instantly seduced by her is one of the few parts of the plot that are NOT inveracious. Paul Reiser and John Goodman are incredibly funny as Randy's lawyer and the police investigator who can't get their eyes (and hands) off Jewel, just like me. Don't miss the funny reference to 'Falling Down', which also starred Michael Douglas.

8/10

After having seen a lot of American films about the Vietnam War, I was interested to check out a Vietnamese film about the same subject. This one didn't live up to my expectations though. 'The long journey', which is the translation of the Vietnamese title, is a road-movie about a former Vietcong soldier who wants to bring the remains of one of his fellow soldiers back to his native village. In a train he hands the bag with the remains over to a girl, a friend of his, and when he misses the train afterwards, the quest for the holy bag begins, leading through the ruined land of Vietnam.

The plot sounds promising, but this film suffers especially from its poor script. Despite its beautiful photography, 'The long journey' fails to be absorbing, so that the sad music score is misplaced.

4/10