The basic story is simple: two daughters fly to the USA to go on a road trip to meet their mother for the first time to take her to some hospital, and along the way they bond with their mom, learn to love themselves, and kick out the toxic men in their lives.The best parts of this movie are the interactions between the two sisters. Their conversations and fights seem very natural, and are enjoyable to watch. Holly Hunter's character is mainly there as a catalyst for these interactions, and seems a bit of a waste of her talents.The plot is very contrived at times, especially at the beginning and the end. A precise plot is clearly not the aim of the movie, which is all about the Van Houten sisters reconnect with each other. It's not a great film, nor does it pretend to be, but it's very enjoyable to watch on a Sunday afternoon.
... View MoreI enjoyed this film, whether because of or in spite of some of its peculiarities, I know not. Two young adult dutch sisters, with lives in Holland as problematic as anybody's, get word that their absentee American mother has gone into a hospital in New Mexico, dare each other to take on the job, and wind up still together, meeting her for the first time at a rehab center in the States. The story is of how they all get to know each other and how the sisters are able to make some changes of their own, thanks to the journey. Oddly, many sexes are represented here, but decent non-macho, non-dickhead males are thin on the ground. To be fair, that doesn't seem to be a poke at Americans, since the sisters have the same issues to deal with back in Amsterdam-and are forced to deal with them via Skype during the road trip; just odd. Another oddness is that the filmmakers set and shot the story in a New Mexico that could have been the location for "the Road". It's a flat, barren wasteland that looks more like the deserts of West Texas or Oklahoma than like anybody's Land of Enchantment. Their trip takes them through one cruddy jerkwater roadhouse after another. That serves to point out that, yes, some Europeans do like American Country-Western music. But what happened to the Rocky Mountains, Santa Fe and Albequerque? New Mexico can be spectacular, but the director seems to have chosen what she found under a rock instead. Odd. If for no other reason, this film is worth watching for the "Dykes on Bikes" sequence. I will say no more.
... View MoreThe movie is about two dutch sisters who travel to America to meet their mother who has been gone for their whole lives. She is in the hospital with a fractured leg, and she needs to be transferred to a centre for rehabilitation. But the mother is a bit strange. She doesn't seem very happy to see her children. They travel together many kilometers in the mothers minibus, they get a lot of new experiences and their lives change forever. It is a great movie, and the story with the two sisters seeing their mother again is great. It is funny and a specially the ending is a bit overwhelming. The ending comes very unexpected, and one could think that the movie could have been much better and more worth watching if the ending had been different.
... View MoreThoroughly enjoyed this road movie that made me forget I watched it with my friends. There is a good mix between drama and humor. The dutch actresses (sisters Van Houten) act very natural and the American (Holly Hunter) actress acts intriguing. You follow the journey of the Dutch sisters with their long lost Americain mother. Although a difficult process the journey leads to some insight in their lives. It clarifies the way they live their life. By driving their mother round they also add value to her miserable life. The music adds to the atmosphere of the movie that ends with a nice twist in the tale. The story is simple and not flawless, but overall I give it a 8 because of the good mix of drama, humor and atmosphere.
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