I think I'm the first American to comment on this film. I live in Den Haag and I picked up the DVD at Media Markt. I speak some Dutch and I'm interested in where Dutch film is going. The DVD cover has Kim van Kooten slung over Michiel Huisman's shoulder in NYC (my hometown) and it says "De Nederlandse Bioscoophit" and "Winner van 4 Gouden Kalveren" is on the back. I've heard of author Ronald Giphart and I've always wanted to see "Zusje", which never got much distribution back in the States. So here was my chance to have it all.I agree with a lot of comments on here already. The film is too cutesy for its own good and Phileine's talking directly to the camera is the kind of device that's been used in American TV for at least the last 10 years, so it seems old and cliché. Yes, I thought the film was very sexy and it's too bad I'm not 16 years old anymore. I can see why van Kooten is something of a star, but her face is too mature and her bearing is too sophisticated to play a 20-something wild woman. I hope she's getting better roles than this one.I haven't read the book, but the Phileine character is extremely unsympathetic. You don't really care if she's unhappy b/c she's such a bitch. She's just pushy and mean and it's hard to believe her heart is broken by Max's rejection. What kind of person screams in a theater during a play, or steals the stage at an AIDS benefit to send a message to her bf? Someone who is entirely too self-absorbed, that's who.And so much for U.S.-Dutch relations. Phileine speaks a lot of Dutch when she's in New York, even in direct response to English conversation. The natives haven't spoken Dutch in Manhattan for a long time. I understand why this is in here, because the audience is mainly Dutch, but it comes off as very nasty. Maybe that's the point, I guess. I know a few mean and nasty Dutch girls and there is a certain charm. And yes, some American men can be assholes, but I don't think it's because they're American.And for the filmmaker: If you have American characters, use American actors. I can hear a Dutch accent a mile away and it destroys the illusion. It happened about 10 times in this film it really put me off.I guess I paid about €7 or so. I don't feel ripped off, but I need to watch the director's commentary to get my money's worth.Thanks for putting English subtitles on this DVD!

Well, I have to admit that I (like most of the people from Holland) think most of the Dutch movies are plain bad. Seriously. Most of the time, I even got a good reason for that because most Dutch movies are bad. But it wouldn't be fair if I'd call this movie bad.Phileine zegt sorry is a very good movie to Dutch standards. OK, Ronald Giphart is definitely not the most literal Dutch writer and he really overuses sex in his books, but isn't that typical for Dutch writers? In fact, aren't Dutch movies known for that too? Turkish Delight is a good Dutch movie, yet has a lot of sex in it. Oh well, I think I should tell you what makes me like this movie, not what makes it less bad.I think Kim van Kooten is great as Phileine. OK, she might overdo the bitchiness sometimes, but most of the time the girl's just good. She has a good timing for one-liners and even though even I (as a 16 year old... No, we're not brainless) think Ronald Giphart overuses cursing in his books, Kim van Kooten makes Phileine enjoyable to look at and listen to.I really like the movie's soundtrack, as, throughout the movie, it just seems to fit in the place where it is.I like a lot of the scenes in the movie, as I think there's enough emotion in it to make it an enjoyable movie. Yes, call me crazy, but I thought the end-scene was very emotional. This might be because I'm still young and I have no life-experience whatsoever, or something, but just because I'm a teenager doesn't mean I'm emotionless.But there are some bad points in the movie too. For example, the dutch actors that pretend to be American. Bad English or American accents in a movie really irritate me, and because a lot of Dutch people don't have a perfect English accent I don't think they should be portrayed as English or American. I found this especially annoying in Kenan Raven's case. But then again, I think Kenan Raven is annoying to begin with. His face looks completely emotionless to me.I thought some scenes in the movie were pointless. For example, you had Gulpje and the guy from the restaurant. The whole restaurant scene was rather pointless, just like a few other scenes.But I liked most of the movie. I don't think everyone will like it as it's dutch and therefore a bit sexistic, but I do recommend it to people my age.7/10.

At most times books and movies have very different styles and completely different constructed stories. Some of the book stories and styles simply don't translate well to the big screen. The book "Phileine zegt sorry" written by Ronald Giphart is one of those books that doesn't translate well to the big screen. As a movie "Phileine zegt sorry" leaves a pointless impression. It's one of those movies which makes you wonder after you have seen it; Why did I even watched this in the first place?It's pretty obvious throughout the entire movie that it's one based on a novel. It features some typical book elements that I'm sure work well in the book but feel completely pointless in the movie. It also has some characters walking around in the movie that feel absolutely pointless and serve no purpose at all. On top of that it's incredibly irritating that most of the New York characters are played by Dutch actors, almost as if there weren't any available actors in New York. their American-Dutch accents are notable and at points even irritating.The two main actors Kim van Kooten and Michiel Huisman are really great but van Kooten couldn't prevent me from being irritated by her character Phileine at times. Her character is over-the-top and really pushes it at times. I would had dumped her almost immediately! but again, this is not van Kooten's fault, she plays her character with lots of profession and passion., simply blame the story.Appereantly this was supposed to be a comedy but there are no real laughs here. Also as a drama it isn't serious enough. I think this is the main reason why this movie leaves an overall pointless impression. The movie is just mostly about Phileine talking rudely about mainly sex and acting like an uncontrollable young hormone filled-woman.The movie however deserves credit for how it looks. The cinematography by Bart Pot is most excellent, especially for the scene's in New York, where this movie is set for about two-third of the entire movie. The editing by Peter Alderliesten keeps the pace high. Robert Jan Westdijk isn't an horrible director he has just been given horrible material to work with.I can't think of any reason why someone should ever watch this movie.4/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

'Phileine zegt sorry' is an adaptation of a Ronald Giphart novel (he's in the film, praising the film as better than the book). His novels are notorious for sexual explicitness, humor and lightness of tone. The film manages to capture this tone. This makes it an entertaining film with Ally MacBeal-like effects to emphasize the emotions of the lead character (Phileine). The cosmopolitan attitude of the characters, the sexual explicitness and the place of action (New York) gives it a Sex and the City touch. So the atmosphere is OK. However the film just doesn't give enough story to make it great. In the book this lack isn't a problem, however film is (as we all know) a different medium. The story line is too thin and sometimes not very credible. This is also due to the the low level performance of some the actors (especially the 'American' characters). Kim van Kooten however gives a superb performance and is a good enough reason to go and see it.So 'Phileine zegt sorry' is not a memorable meal but a nice expensive snack.