Regardless the mediocre acting and cinematography, my prime concern about this movie is the way it portrays the current happenings in the Dutch society, in the hopes of inciting more debate about topics that are already heavily discussed.I cringed at the scene where Max (an ambulance driver), under pressure of feeling to have to act out against the (unfortunately all too customary) hindrance of and violence against public service personnel, lashed out against a bystander who tried to calm his friend and Max down during a verbal quarrel that resulted because of a group of youth purposely obstructing the ambulance from reaching a woman in labour. This is ridiculous and a perfect example of how politically laden this movie is. There is one particular group of people, with a certain ethnicity that is particularly notorious for the aforementioned obstructive behaviour with regards to public services (and has come under fire for this) and what this film is trying to make clear here is that we should refrain from thinking in black and white (which I agree with), but this entire situation does not reflect reality, at all. There can be no debate about this: Max deserves to be trialled for manslaughter – he used violence, regardless his motives, against someone who was actually trying to calm things down. This is however, completely unrealistic! I know this from experience and from people who have had jobs at public services. It would've been different, if the people who obstructed the ambulance had attacked Max first, and then Max would have been on trial for manslaughter (and sentenced, which unfortunately happens a lot, as well), which would have made more sense, would have actually reflected reality and relates directly to the debate about how and to what extent people should be able to defend themselves.This film screams: "you Dutch people are xenophobic and racist and should stop judging people from certain ethnicities". Another horrible example of this is the remark of one of the bystanders, in another instance during which the ambulance personnel is hindered, at Max' co- driver (who happens to be Muslim, but is as Dutch as can be) that "Mecca is that way.". I am ashamed of this atrocity of leftist propaganda that sketches a twisted image of what is happening in the poorer, urban parts of our country (namely the continuous harassment of citizens by people of a certain ethnicity and their continuous perpetration of criminal offenses) for the people who live their lives happily in their ivory towers of the middle and upper class.In Dutch: deze film slaat de plank volledig mis.

This could have been an interesting movie, but it failed for more than one reasons. Being a public figure is not everybody's cup of tea. Max (the leading part) feels humiliated when he sees himself in a TV-show after he has been secretly filmed at his job, working on an ambulance. A comedian, a sidekick in a popular TV-show, ridicules him publicly for his docile behavior in a confrontation with some obnoxious people. Not long after, Max is confronted again with youth who aggressively block his way on a ride to a matter of life-or-death childbirth. Is it the humiliation or the stress? It's not clear, but he beats one of the youngsters and continues his ride, saves the mother and baby, only to find out that the youngster he has hit is taken to hospital as well, and dies there. Unfortunately, this incident was also filmed in secret, and aired on the same TV-show, and commented on by the same comedian. He is sentenced for manslaughter. The dilemma, this life or that life, is shown very well, and by itself is enough to make an interesting movie. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't stop there. The tension bleeds away when the movie continues; after his release from prison he finds he lost his job and is confronted again with the group of youngsters, who seek revenge. In trying to cool down the situation, he only makes things worse. He is driven into the hands of the comedian who ridiculed him before, and gets used by him in his stage act. Finally he gets himself a gun and goes on a "nothing left to lose" spree to set things right. It ends with his suicide. As I said, the tension is only present in the first part of the movie; the rest just makes the movie weak. But there is more. First of all, the main character, Max, is supposed to be a good-natured fellow. Unfortunately, the movie makers did not choose an actor but a comedian for this role. And not just any comedian, no, it's a comedian especially known for his abusive behavior. How else would you call someone, who brags about his stealing of sport-trophy's, who is convicted for sexually attacking a female spectator on stage, who smashed the expensive equipment of a professional photographer, or who publicly compared the looks of an aging popular female singer with the aberration of necrophilia? This is the man that now has to convince us that he is a meek ambulance driver. That's an impossible task for someone who is not a professional actor, of course. But that is not all. The taxi driver that delivers him a gun, as well as the father of the boy that was killed are not trained actors but comedians as well. They both have single line performances, so they are not able to shake off that comedy-feeling on first recognition. The sidekick in the TV-show, however, supposed to be a comedian, is really an actor (thank heavens for that). When following his script as the sidekick, he plays his role better than anybody else in this movie, but when he has to play his role as a comedian on stage, he can't convince us as such, because they forgot to give him some interesting lines.Why did they make those reversals, why did they not use real actors? The acting of the comedians is not at all convincing. Strangely enough, a real find is the use of the talk show in this movie. It's actually a real and popular show which sometimes really does abuse anonymous bystanders in previously aired TV-clips, dragging them into the focal point of attention, like "...pay notice to these people in the background, see how silly they behave." Some of the sidekicks in this show are known for their controversial statements, like naming people in unfounded accusations of child molest or promotion of mob justice. I have no idea why the producers of this show ever thought it was a good thing to cooperate in this movie. All in all, the movie is only interesting in the first part, and could have been better if real actors would had been hired.

After watching this movie, I was left with the feeling I still didn't know what exactly it wanted to say. It touches on so many different subjects and moral dilemmas, but never goes deeper to actually try and give its view on what happens. It goes from ethnic problems in society to the influential power of the media and the moral role of comedians,and more, all in one movie. I believe exploring one or two of these themes in one movie is difficult enough as it is. This is the movie's biggest flaw, in my opinion.But the same criticism can be applied to the characters. Their motivations are all over the place. They change with almost every scene. And after so many changes, you stop believing in them. The actions of some characters simply don't make sense. Why would Max, a man who lives for caring for others and simply snapped at one point, a man who has honest remorse, actively plan to threaten all the people who have made things hard for him? Why would Felix help/exploit him in such a way? Why do we never see the girlfriend again? I know these questions are sort of answered, but in my opinion, it doesn't make that much sense. The story is full, moves at a very quick pace and doesn't seem to know what it wants to get across. You could even say that there is too much story.In the strongest scenes of the movie, the atmosphere speaks for itself and there is no need to explain anything or make things more complicated. In the scene where Max watches in silence what his actions on the fatal night have resulted in, there is no commentary or plot line necessary. It's about life and death and the hard work of an ambulance worker standing in between, shown in a grim but realistic manner. It never exaggerates in the way I thought of lot of scenes did. I found myself asking 'are there really so many people out there who act like this?' The problems and difficult people the ambulance workers are faced with seem so plentiful and over the top that it seems as if everyone is out to get them.The locations and interesting music add loads of atmosphere to this movie, and are, next to the great, intense performances from everyone in the cast, the best part of it. The camera is well used to intensify this. The only thing I did not think was necessary at all, was the temporary shift to black and white. I thought it was more distracting than anything else.Theo Maassen is great in this role. The script makes him play many different aspects of Max as a character (powerless and remorseful at first, angry later and desperate in the end) but he pulls them all off naturally. It's also very interesting from a 'meta' point of view to see an actor playing a comedian make fun of a comedian who is an actor here. The self-referential value of the scenes with Max on stage is remarkable. These points, and the destructive but touching ending makes this movie worth watching, in my opinion.

'Doodslag' (which translates to Manslaughter) tells us the story of Max, a veteran ambulance-driver who gets driven to mental breakdown. The build up of the story is quite fast, and after some minor incidents showing Max getting disrespected and even made fun of on national television by a famous comedian it eventually leads up to the unintended death of a young street thug. On their way to a emergency delivery Max (and his new colleague (Amira, portrayed by Maryam Hassouni)get stopped by a group of street youth when their friend had a accident and has superficial headinjuries. The tension builds up, and with all the stress Max has to cope with he snaps, hits one of the guys who falls on the curb and dies on the spot. Max is sent to prison for one year, but it doesn't stop there. The friends of the street thug are bound for vengeance, and start threatening and harrasing him. In the mean time the comedian that made fun of him earlier finds himself feeling sorry for his actions, and hires Max as his personal driver.I found this movie to be very intelligent and uncomprimizing. This film shows the degrading of society (emergency personell frequently get harassed in the Netherlands these days) but it does not judge whether Max is a criminal or a hero. The Maassen reprises a strong role (after his first movie: TBS) and I think no other Dutch actor can portray such a dark and gritty character. Maryam Hassouni also portrays an excellent role as Amira and I also see a bright future for her acting career as well.I also find the directing very good, I am only guessing why the 2nd chapter is in black and white. The only reason I can think of is some 'artsy' addition or something. The soundtrack is also very good, and fits the film very well.Overall I would say this is a must see, and another gem of Dutch cinematography. These don't come around very often.9/10