Afrikaans families speaking English to each other. The movie is unrealistic, was very disappointed would have been much better if it was in Afrikaans with English subtitles. Only needed English when speaking to their future son in law.
13 Reviews
Waste of time
hugopaulskaap11 January 2019
This is hands down the worst South African movie that I've ever seen. And an english Van Der Merwe???!! not well thought through. They rant on about the "rooinek" yet all of them speak english. Does not make sense. really a massive failure.
What a waste of good talent
malhaas-jacobsz9 March 2018
A few of the actors in the movie are good, but not in this movie. The story is predictable, the cast does not match well, and the story and acting suffered because of it. This is a GIANT failure. One of the worst South African movies in the last 10 years. The Van Der Merwe jokes which are EXTREMELY popular in South African culture are made in the afrikaans language. The entire film is english. Like wtf were they thinking? The cast felt unemotional and stiff. Do yourself a favor and rather rent a Leon Schuster movie. #epicfail
Funny from start to finish
charllouw3 March 2020
This film was really funny, more than I expected. With some big laughs and over the top scenes. I wasn't sure Van der Merwe in english could work. But it did. Like many films based on historical characters Van der Merwe is in english and not in the language most people expected. Take Gladiator - should have been in Latin. Valkyrie should have been in German. And Braveheart should have been in Scottish Gaelic. But they weren't. And thank the heavens for that. I didn't understand any of those languages and this way many more people got to know and love these stories and these characters.
The other thing though is that Van der Merwe never actually existed. He's a made up person. He only became popular as an Afrikaner who didn't speak very good english. Spoke english, yes... just not very good english. He was a bit thick always getting himself into trouble and that's why we love the jokes and the Van character. This film brings this to life with humour and heart and some really good performances by the actors. It also makes Van more accessible to everyone in the country. This film has its ups and downs but it will make you laugh from start to finish. My whole family loved it - yours will too.
The other thing though is that Van der Merwe never actually existed. He's a made up person. He only became popular as an Afrikaner who didn't speak very good english. Spoke english, yes... just not very good english. He was a bit thick always getting himself into trouble and that's why we love the jokes and the Van character. This film brings this to life with humour and heart and some really good performances by the actors. It also makes Van more accessible to everyone in the country. This film has its ups and downs but it will make you laugh from start to finish. My whole family loved it - yours will too.
Absolute rubbish!
mrvanin5 April 2019
One star. This is a score I reserve for any movie that I can't tolerate long enough to watch to the end.
The "script" is nonsense. The acting is atrocious. It's not slapstick, or over the top - it's just empty. This drivel doesn't even raise a weak smile. What a waste of time, money and effort. There is not a single redeemable feature in this bucket of sludge.
Soooooo funny!
pamcakeseva20 August 2021
9 out of 10 for making us laugh so much. And very well done even though this film was not totally perfect, but it was so hilarious. OMG was it funny. They did do an excellent job with the Van der Merwe joke character, bringing it to life with verrrry funny scenes like "watching my drinking" in the mirror ROFL and the part with the beeer chicken!!! So so funny! Feel good film 4 sure!
Nice Light Movie
Youssef7827 February 2021
A good laugh
pierresmuts5 April 2020
Very good light hearted entertainment for when you really need a good laugh (and I think we could all do with one now) We all enjoyed it and was perfect for putting a smile on all of our faces - with some good acting from top local actors like Ian Roberts (vans dad) and Rob van Vuuren with a hilarious performance as Van. Will watch again.
Well written and composed
almienaude28 January 2018
Another South African title to be proud of, Van Der Merwe.
This comedy, starring some of the country's best, has been well written and put together, and it has been written in such a way that it falls snuggly in the category just above stepping on people's toes. Well done Mr Lawley for writing this successful title!
That's two thumbs up from me.
That's two thumbs up from me.
Van Der Merwe
orca-1485431 March 2020
Sure it meets the cultural values of a "Van Der Merwe" joke
snugam11 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A cliche is, "a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought."; Culturally speaking "Jan Van Der Merwe" is a fictional-historical person who is just that: a wonderfully-old and ingrained cliche to most Afrikaans speaking South Africans.
YES! The story exaggerates and offends exactly that part of our culture that I too was brought up in and at times it angered me for portraying us in such a blatant way. But as I watched further I REALIZED that it's "JAN VAN DER MERWE" we're talking about here. He is one of the greatest cliches that the Afrikaans speaking culture has ever known. A typical example of a Van der Merwe joke (translated a bit and probably removed half of the punchline but I don't see another way of portraying it here) goes something like this:
(This joke might regarded as vulgar, you are welcome to skip this part if you want)
-----JOKE START---- "Van der Merwe goes to Paris to watch the Springboks take-on the British at the Rugby World Cup. Whilst in Paris, he walks around, gaping and staring at everything - so much so that he walks smack bang into a fire hydrant which hits him so hard on the "privates" that he has to be rushed to hospital where the doctors tell him they have to remove his testicles. Van goes berserk, he bites and snarls at every one and he won't let anybody within 10 meters of him. Eventually they find a South African doctor in the hospital and get him to talk to Van in Afrikaans explaining to Van that they need to remove his "testicles" to which Van replies with relief, "O, okay, I thought they wanted to take my 'rugby test tickets'. -----JOKE END----
After finishing the movie and giving it some thought I wanted to give a "hurrah" to the main cast and writers who had the very difficult task of playing/writing for rolls that clearly should have been done in the language this cultural FARCE plays-off in (Afrikaans); then I realized that movies are about money and the only way that this film could be opened-up to a wider audience was to do the movie in English instead of Afrikaans -- in my opinion, that was a good (business) call.
This movie addresses a very small part of the greater South African culture and therefore has a small target audience. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to discover this on a USA based streaming service.
A farce must blow everything out-of-proportion, because it offends and it reveals as it portrays things people like as well as the parts we don't. Thank you for a great South African movie!!!
I gave this movie 8 simply because it didn't bore me like many, many other modern South African and/or even Afrikaans movies.
SPOILER: Nota bene: "The Grandpa negativity was not against "English as a language" but because his granddaughter was about to marry a "Brit" as in a British Citizen. Some research on South African history makes this part of the plot relevant and not incorrect at all!
YES! The story exaggerates and offends exactly that part of our culture that I too was brought up in and at times it angered me for portraying us in such a blatant way. But as I watched further I REALIZED that it's "JAN VAN DER MERWE" we're talking about here. He is one of the greatest cliches that the Afrikaans speaking culture has ever known. A typical example of a Van der Merwe joke (translated a bit and probably removed half of the punchline but I don't see another way of portraying it here) goes something like this:
(This joke might regarded as vulgar, you are welcome to skip this part if you want)
-----JOKE START---- "Van der Merwe goes to Paris to watch the Springboks take-on the British at the Rugby World Cup. Whilst in Paris, he walks around, gaping and staring at everything - so much so that he walks smack bang into a fire hydrant which hits him so hard on the "privates" that he has to be rushed to hospital where the doctors tell him they have to remove his testicles. Van goes berserk, he bites and snarls at every one and he won't let anybody within 10 meters of him. Eventually they find a South African doctor in the hospital and get him to talk to Van in Afrikaans explaining to Van that they need to remove his "testicles" to which Van replies with relief, "O, okay, I thought they wanted to take my 'rugby test tickets'. -----JOKE END----
After finishing the movie and giving it some thought I wanted to give a "hurrah" to the main cast and writers who had the very difficult task of playing/writing for rolls that clearly should have been done in the language this cultural FARCE plays-off in (Afrikaans); then I realized that movies are about money and the only way that this film could be opened-up to a wider audience was to do the movie in English instead of Afrikaans -- in my opinion, that was a good (business) call.
This movie addresses a very small part of the greater South African culture and therefore has a small target audience. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to discover this on a USA based streaming service.
A farce must blow everything out-of-proportion, because it offends and it reveals as it portrays things people like as well as the parts we don't. Thank you for a great South African movie!!!
I gave this movie 8 simply because it didn't bore me like many, many other modern South African and/or even Afrikaans movies.
SPOILER: Nota bene: "The Grandpa negativity was not against "English as a language" but because his granddaughter was about to marry a "Brit" as in a British Citizen. Some research on South African history makes this part of the plot relevant and not incorrect at all!
Hilarious. Jokes where so clever.
Stratos114 April 2019
Totally entertaining. Kept me laughing non stop. The main actor Van was amazing such great funny body language. All the actors however where good. Definetly a movie I recommend you watch if you want some good fun light hearted entertainment.
Father of the Bride + My Big Fat Greek Wedding + Boers = Hilarious Fun!
AlbertV7919 July 2021
Rob van Vuuren is the reason to see this! The South African comedian is perfectly cast in the role of a lowly Boer farmer who is the ridicule of his family. He is forced to choose between his daughter (Reine Swart) and his father (Ian Roberts) when she is engaged to British doctor George (Matthew Baldwin). In an age where comedies in Hollywood rely too much on nudity and cursing like sailors, this brings back the old school brand of comedy with one gross out joke. The star's comic deadpan humor, combinbing literal and sarcasm with a taste of slapstick is fun to watch. The jokes are funny in the Airplane sense at times and seeing his daughter's frustrations with him is pretty fun to watch as well. Overall, a fun little gem from South Africa.
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