Amazones (2004)

Too much of everything

Simply Perfect

Perfect cast and a good story

best movie i've ever seen.

If you don't expect too much, this movie is quite alright for an evening at home. The story is not very original or surprising, the development of the characters is not particularly strong. However, the movie is quite entertaining, mainly because the acting is fairly good. Sometimes it's nice to eat comfort food instead of a freshly cooked good meal. The only thing I find pretty disturbing is the fact that most of the actors are clearly faking the Breda accent. I am originally from that area and it's hard to listen how they are getting close but just not close enough. Nevertheless it is commendable that the director went for a realistic accent instead of the ever dominating Holland accent in other Dutch movies.

The story of this movie is not bad, but doesn't excel either. No it is the actrices who make this film outstanding indeed. Four of the best actrices in Holland play excellent roles. Verbaan, the Lolita of the Low Countries, surpasses herself. The well established Van de Ven, who you may know from Turkish Delight, the best movie ever made in Holland in the 20th century, is very good indeed. Hendrickx is good. But the best part is for Visser. She acts so well, that even I fell in love with her. Don't take this movie seriously though, it is just a fine, relaxing afternoon thriller. Certainly not a serious attempt to add something to human cultural heritage in general.

The movie starts as a social drama with humor. But then the director does not seem to know which direction to go. Sometimes it is a drama, sometimes a comedy and at one point it is an action flick. Usually this causes confusion with the audience and the movie will not get any better. There is some humor, but not very good. Near the end I didn't really had a good idea which way the movie was going to. The plot is also way too cliché (the song Nobody's Wife by Anouk contributes to this). Not a bad effort, but next time the director has to make up her mind. Just a nice TV-movie.The acting is nice by the way. I sometimes had some trouble with the accent (from the province Noord-Brabant).

A movie about a couple of lower class mums turning to armed robbery for a source of income, might well make a good premise for either an interesting drama or a good comedy. This film tries to be both and strikes a pretty good balance, and yet is somehow found wanting in both senses. It has some funny moments, but it's not a great laugh, and the thin plot leaves little room for the really dramatic stuff.The main weakness of this film is the fact that the plot kind of wanders about without actually going anywhere. I found myself sitting in the theater wondering where the hell the story was going, and then feeling a bit let down when the credits started rolling. It's not a movie I'd recommend seeing in the cinema. It's more the kind of thing you come across while zapping and then keep watching without regretting it later. 5/10