In the Netherlands there are the so-called telefilms, films made for television all around a certain theme, sponsored by the public television. There are a total of six films. This year the theme is romcom, so prepare yourself. Romcom is by far the genre most Dutch commercial movies are made in. Big sponsored movies with the same plots and mostly the same actors even. Although there are of course some funny moments to be had, nothing really stands out. A nice try for the more indepedent and new filmmakers in the telefilms cycle to brush up the genre. This movie is the first installment in this cycle.
The concept is quite ok. Hadiah Tromp, a rebellious lady, signs up for the strict navy, mostly to please her father, a high-ranking navy officer. Although she doesn't want to return after her first training, she does return for naval training on the North Sea because of a break-up. Here she meets Paul Borremans, her junior officer and very strict follower of rules, and you never believe what happens next.
This movie works on certain levels. The setting in a navy ship, with many crew members and small hallways, is quite original and makes the romance part a bit more interesting. The other characters are nicely done and live up to romcom-tropes. The uptight fellow cadet, the strict captain, the jealous fellow officer and the funny friends of the main character. The story is as romcom as you can get and there is also a musical theme to it, with characters breaking out in sing and dance but done in such a way that it doesn't really count as a musical in my opinion.
Where this movie gets his low rating from me is the acting and script overall. Chloé Leenheer's acting falls flat almost every time. Lines are delivered flatly and feel almost forced. 'The line is in the script, so I have to say it' It seems they where trying to go for a quirky girl which combines the strict navy moral of her father with the easy free going spirit of her deceased Jamaican mother. This actually results in a spoiled brat which motivations are never clear. Which is strange because the movie results in mostly stating the emotions instead of acting. The other characters, as mentioned mostly consist of tropes, have the same deliverance. Peter Heerschop, although a funny comedian, doesn't really fit well as the dad. A lot of the actors looked mostly chosen for their navy fysique than their acting abilities. Although there are some actors who did a good job, Jacqueline Blom as the strict captain, Mike Weerdt as the jealous officer and mostly a shout-out forKorneel Evers for the stoner guy, which I found one of the most funny characters in the film.
To go on about the script/screenplay, this movie tried in my opinion to hard to be a romcom and the script tried to incorporate to many tropes in this movie. This resulted in half written story-lines for characters, who sometimes totally disappear from the movie. Hadiah had a onshore black friend who appears in one scene and is never seen again. The same goes in the final part of the movie for the uptight fellow-cadet who the last half hour is nowhere to be found, only to return briefly in the ending credits. The motivation and deeds of Hadiah are weird in the latter half of the movie, even ignoring the bad acting job. It is weird she protects the officer who tried to sexually harrass her over Paul Borremans who tried to protect her but she had a fall-out with. Maybe there is a director's cut where the movie is more fleshed-out but now it felt that the script was only half done and tried to much in the time it was given. In short. Movie with a cool concept in the romcom scene, but looses itself in bad acting and a screenplay which wants to much but can't deliver.
The concept is quite ok. Hadiah Tromp, a rebellious lady, signs up for the strict navy, mostly to please her father, a high-ranking navy officer. Although she doesn't want to return after her first training, she does return for naval training on the North Sea because of a break-up. Here she meets Paul Borremans, her junior officer and very strict follower of rules, and you never believe what happens next.
This movie works on certain levels. The setting in a navy ship, with many crew members and small hallways, is quite original and makes the romance part a bit more interesting. The other characters are nicely done and live up to romcom-tropes. The uptight fellow cadet, the strict captain, the jealous fellow officer and the funny friends of the main character. The story is as romcom as you can get and there is also a musical theme to it, with characters breaking out in sing and dance but done in such a way that it doesn't really count as a musical in my opinion.
Where this movie gets his low rating from me is the acting and script overall. Chloé Leenheer's acting falls flat almost every time. Lines are delivered flatly and feel almost forced. 'The line is in the script, so I have to say it' It seems they where trying to go for a quirky girl which combines the strict navy moral of her father with the easy free going spirit of her deceased Jamaican mother. This actually results in a spoiled brat which motivations are never clear. Which is strange because the movie results in mostly stating the emotions instead of acting. The other characters, as mentioned mostly consist of tropes, have the same deliverance. Peter Heerschop, although a funny comedian, doesn't really fit well as the dad. A lot of the actors looked mostly chosen for their navy fysique than their acting abilities. Although there are some actors who did a good job, Jacqueline Blom as the strict captain, Mike Weerdt as the jealous officer and mostly a shout-out forKorneel Evers for the stoner guy, which I found one of the most funny characters in the film.
To go on about the script/screenplay, this movie tried in my opinion to hard to be a romcom and the script tried to incorporate to many tropes in this movie. This resulted in half written story-lines for characters, who sometimes totally disappear from the movie. Hadiah had a onshore black friend who appears in one scene and is never seen again. The same goes in the final part of the movie for the uptight fellow-cadet who the last half hour is nowhere to be found, only to return briefly in the ending credits. The motivation and deeds of Hadiah are weird in the latter half of the movie, even ignoring the bad acting job. It is weird she protects the officer who tried to sexually harrass her over Paul Borremans who tried to protect her but she had a fall-out with. Maybe there is a director's cut where the movie is more fleshed-out but now it felt that the script was only half done and tried to much in the time it was given. In short. Movie with a cool concept in the romcom scene, but looses itself in bad acting and a screenplay which wants to much but can't deliver.