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.

A lot is already said in the other reviews, one better than the other, but every review is a persona view on the movie.I gave the movie 7 out of 10 because of the acting of Theo (main character) I also loved him in TBS (movie about a form of psychological help (TBS) some criminals get upon their punishment viewed by most people as a means to keep them locked up longer). Theo isn't a real actor, but he's a natural talent for dark, psycho, depressed, and weird guys. The rest of the cast did also pretty good, for Dutch standards.The other reason I gave the movie 7/10 is the idea and the beginning. People being harassed by youth on scooters is a hot item in the Netherlands. Another hot item is the fact that people don't do anything and rather stand and watch or call the police instead of helping victims.One of the big reasons for this (cowardly) behavior is events in the past of people who did stand up and fought back were actually treated worse and punished harder than the criminal. That's also the red line in the movie, is Max a hero or a villain.Recent political shifts towards the right spectrum changed some of the laws. The Justice department is now supposed to punish people who harass the emergency services a lot harder, but police and other services complain there aren't many changes. Another change is that peoples who started as the victim but changed the tides on the criminal aren't arrested anymore and treated like a criminal. They are allowed to stay home and go on with their live but are expected to show up at the court when being called in. Another realistic part of the movie is the influence of the media, the opinion of Dutch people is very easy manipulated also in real live. There are certain TV-shows which are considered "intelligent" and whatever they say is considered "the truth".This movie combines all those factors pretty good, but it kinda gets over the top and becomes unrealistic. The movie starts with a message but ends with nothing, I think it's a missed opportunity. A bit as if the director didn't know where to go, serious or just entertainment.too bad, but still a good movie and I would love to see Theo Maassen in a good psycho thriller again.

It's hard to write a review about such a relevant movie. "Why?" is the question that will enter your mind probably. Well, when you write a review about a relevant movie with themes so important in this time, you want to make sure you don't criticize the theme's but the movie.Theo Maassen, whom is most of all one of the best comedian's the Lower lands has, plays this movie with finesse and touching realness. This is a hard movie. Not only does it depict reality very accurately. this reality is a reality without solutions, it's a reality with hard decisions, choices and dilemmas. Theo Maassen fits perfectly in this harsh dark world. No one else, and i really mean no one else could 've played this role better. no American, no Johnny Depp, No Elijah Wood, no dutch, nor American actor which i know. Now, you might have detected i'm a big fan of Theo Maassen. True. it might not be objective at all. But his acting is so fine, so detailed and filled with doubt I don't believe any other actor could do this. Mainly because Maassen plays this like a person, like a really human being, overwhelmed with reality. Besides the wonderful acting of Maassen, also Gijs van Scholten Aschat plays his role as a comedian (a role which Theo plays in real life) to the point. Almost like it's real. It's a Dutch movie, you can see that. Now don't get me wrong, i'm not a superb film critic, i haven't seen "all" dutch movies nor a lot non American/British but this movie really has a dutch taste. The grimness, the hard themes it depicts and the uneasiness that crawls up under your chair are astonishing. The image is raw. The acting is raw. The story is raw. The decisions made in this movie are raw. So far for style, it deserves a fat 10.Now about this themes. As we know from American movies they can really solve problems right? This movie doesn't solve. It poses questions. Now for that fact it could 've still been some art like fancy documentary. The good thing about this movie is that it doesn't just pose questions it asks questions which have no answer. These questions are a logical event of occurrences and don't ask for an "opinion" they just are. The way the characters deal with them are completely understandable but not predictable. Not at all. No spoilers. The themes are very relevant for our society. The questions are important not for people who work in hospitals or drive ambulances. On one hand it reminds us that all our media, and the ones that use it, should watch their mouth. It reminds us that saying "act normal" is easier said than done. It reminds our street kids to watch out who you bother and our "normal people" that sticky situations are easily created and hard to solve. I actually wanted to write that this is not a movie for "normal people" but that's not what this is about. This is a movie without compromising, a movie without understandable questions, without happy ending, without answers, without solutions, without a shine on reality. Definitely a European movie. Definitely not for the ones who like easygoing happy endings. Ex-Drummer is the only movie i can compare this one with. but this one has a political tone. Starting with the first shot we get: a Quote from our prime minister saying "We need to win our society back from the bad guys". Well, after the first few minutes you already understand that this is not as easy as it sounds. Who are these bad guys? Bad guys apparently all have reasons to be one. These reasons are created by situations. This is a movie showing how bad guys are created. Unintentionally.This is probably one of the best Dutch movies I've ever seen. If you cant' see it in cinemas, buy it. If you can't? Download it. it's to important to not see. Check it out!