This film is certainly one of the better Flemish movies. Usually, I'm not really into this sort of films, because the dialogue is mostly silly, the pronunciation poorly done and because these films have always got the same idiotic story. But, as I said, this film succeeds in being ahead of the others in the feel-good department. Actually, the story is pretty weird, yet it looks like we've seen a lot of this before. It's also sad in a certain way, while it's actually more of a comedy with a feel-good factor of 9. Th story centers around Jean, a middle-aged factory worker. He wants the best for his family and especially for his daughter, Marva.(named after a famous Flemish singer from years ago) Jean is working hard to promote his daughter's singing career. A bit of a problem on the way is that, although she has a great voice, she's also a bit overweight to say the least. After some pretty hilarious failures at singing contests, Jean also loses his job. Thinking of what to tell his wife and daughter, his car breaks down... Then, it seems like things could take a turn for Jean when Debbie, a famous singer in the Lowlands, comes to help him with his car. He sees this as a great opportunity to finally change things around and kidnaps her, with some (unwilling)help of a co-worker, his best friend Willy, a sweet yet naive young man. Eventually, it gets too much to handle for the two of them and it turns into a media-circus.
The film certainly has a flow, some good laughs and some very good actors, which is rare in Flanders. Josse De Pauw is excellent as the good-natured father, who gets in over his head. Werner De Smedt is surprisingly good as well as a simple, good-natured guy who's drawn into this affair by Jean against his will. They have some great scenes. The rest of the cast is also pretty good, especially the daughter, Marva, who has a great voice. The major criticism however is that we've seen this all before, maybe slightly different. The ending too can be easily predicted and there are some dull moments in the story.
But this certainly is a nice film, not a masterpiece, but certainly worth a look. It's nice to see that there can also be Flemish movies of this kind. This film is certainly no less than an American or British movie of the same type. But IEDEREEN BEROEMD!(Everyone Famous!)has got a heart. It's an honest film about simple people who try to make the best of their lives and sometimes do extraordinary things in order to achieve this. The film got excellent reviews in a sneak preview(where I saw it)and in a press screening, which is not very common for a Flemish movie. The reactions may be a bit too enthusiastic, but show that people had fun watching this film and are proud of it too. In my opinion it ought to be given a chance, you won't regret it. 7/10
The film certainly has a flow, some good laughs and some very good actors, which is rare in Flanders. Josse De Pauw is excellent as the good-natured father, who gets in over his head. Werner De Smedt is surprisingly good as well as a simple, good-natured guy who's drawn into this affair by Jean against his will. They have some great scenes. The rest of the cast is also pretty good, especially the daughter, Marva, who has a great voice. The major criticism however is that we've seen this all before, maybe slightly different. The ending too can be easily predicted and there are some dull moments in the story.
But this certainly is a nice film, not a masterpiece, but certainly worth a look. It's nice to see that there can also be Flemish movies of this kind. This film is certainly no less than an American or British movie of the same type. But IEDEREEN BEROEMD!(Everyone Famous!)has got a heart. It's an honest film about simple people who try to make the best of their lives and sometimes do extraordinary things in order to achieve this. The film got excellent reviews in a sneak preview(where I saw it)and in a press screening, which is not very common for a Flemish movie. The reactions may be a bit too enthusiastic, but show that people had fun watching this film and are proud of it too. In my opinion it ought to be given a chance, you won't regret it. 7/10