Nonureva Really Surprised!

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

Teddie Blake The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Delight Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

z-kruppa The term 'based on the bestseller of Karel Glastra van Loon' means a very free association. The film is based on the book as the Troy is based on the epic of Homer. Just the main differences: 1.- in the book the fact, that the grandfather is the biological father becomes obvious only after his death - a secret letter has been found. So Armin couldn't challenge his father. 2.- the idea of his son Bo - to spread the ashes of the grandpa onto the grave of Monica, and go on with their lives - which is a touching moment in the book to find resignation, is completely absent from the film. 3.- in the book Monica's affair with Robert (her previous lover) wasn't a blow-job (instead a jerk-off). It's not just a small nuance (even in the book Robert says 'I wanted a blow-job, but she didn't want that'). 4.- the description of the threesome with Ellen seems to be an accidental event in the book, while in the film everything looks like an orgy orchestrated by Monica 5.- in the book Ellen describes us the act between the grandfather and Monica (quite hasty but passionate, but at the same time it was - at least partly - initiated by Armin's father) 6.- it was absolutely useless to put the parents of Monica into the film, it's just one scene - and without any further explanation it's rather confusing. I understand completely, that a film would never be able to give the same feelings, emotions as the book it is based on, but in this case the film pictures Monica as a sensual whore. I think this film sacrificed all the values of the original book on the altar of popularity. Instead of concentrating on the thoughts of a man, his altered, but at the same time unchanged father-child relationship - this film makes the whole story a quest (think about the mugshots of the possible suspects). I recommend everyone (apart from the real Clarice van Houten fans, like myself :-) to read the book instead.

Philip Van der Veken Just like Belgium, the Netherlands don't have a very big and famous movie industry, but from time to time they really are capable of making an excellent movie. That's why I taped this movie when it was shown on Dutch national television. I had never heard of it before, but seeing that Jan Decleir - probably Belgium's finest, still living actor - played a role in it and because I'm very interested in all European movies, I didn't hesitate to give this movie a try."De Passievrucht" tells the story of a man who finds out that his son isn't really his son when the doctor tells him that he has been infertile during his entire life. Since his first wife, and the mother of their son, died nine years ago, he can't ask her who did it. But consumed by anger and sadness, he decides to go after the real father himself. As he goes from one possible culprit to another, he forgets that he isn't the only person in the family. His new girlfriend and his 'son' are the victims of his egoistic behavior and when he finally finds out who did this to him, the surprise couldn't be bigger...Except for Jan Decleir and Halina Reijn, I can't think of any other actor in this movie that I've heard of before. They are all a complete mystery to me and I'm sure that I've never seen them play in another movie, but that certainly doesn't mean that they didn't do it well in this one. I really appreciated the performances of Peter Paul Muller, Carice van Houten,... and I'll certainly try to see another one of their movies if I ever get the chance. The same for the director. He too is a complete stranger to me, but with this movie he proves to have talent. That shows for instance in the excellent use of flashbacks. He never uses them too much, but knows perfectly how to switch between the now and the past. What I also liked, next to the good acting, was the original idea behind the story: how many men raise a child that isn't really theirs and how do they react when they find out the truth? That's a subject that I've never found in any Hollywood production, but it's one that is much closer to reality than some people want to believe. Not that I'm surprised to find it in a European instead of an American movie. It just doesn't belong to the perfect image of family happiness that Hollywood wants to portray. Over here, the movie makers dare to step out of that perfect world, just like Maarten Treurniet did with this movie, and I really appreciate that a lot.All in all this is a movie that deserves to be seen by a much larger audience. It may not always be perfect, but overall the story is good, the emotions are realistic and the acting more than just worth a watch. I really liked this movie and that's why I give it at least a 7.5/10

TheOtherFool Make no mistake about it: this is a Dutch movie. So there's a woman stripping naked within the first minute. Now, considering that woman is Carice van Houten there probably won't be many complaints, but still...Van Houten is Monika, the now dead first wife of Armin (an uninspiring Peter Paul Muller) and mother of their child, Bo. After the dead of his wife, Armin moved on and lives together with a good friend of his first wife, Ellen (Halina Reijn). When they just won't get pregnant, it turns out Armin is infertile, and has been his whole life. So who is the father of his son?The rest of the movie is a search for the real father, and a portrait of how Armin and his 'son' try to deal with the news and each other. As said, the acting of Muller is pretty wooden, and that's too bad as the story isn't a complete waste (perhaps except the preposterous ending).But as a whole, it somehow doesn't fit... Things just won't get that interesting and exciting, and the movie kinda drags along. I won't call it a bad movie in any way, just nothing special I suppose... Now, if you're into Van Houten on the other hand...5/10.

nitzpitz possible spoilersI usually avoid Dutch movies, but I saw this one in a sneak preview. I must say that the first 5 minutes were full of all my prejudices against the Dutch cinema, but the rest of the movie was above my expectations. As you probably know Dutch movies are famous for their explicit sex scenes. THe movie starts with one. But it turns out to be a rather good and well balanced drama about a man that has just found out he has always been infertile. This forms a problem, because he has a teenage son from his late wife. The big question is... WHO is the father??? The rest of the movie is about his search for the father of his son. There are detective elements in the movie, but also drama and fortunatly there are also comic moments.I would never had gone to this movie on my one, but I can certainly recomend it. The acting is fine, the storyline interesting and the camera work is nice.