Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

w-hermans89 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.

rstySp00n 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.

dusan-22 Very intelligent movie with the art film moments. Excellent acting, very good European camera school, good editing. Can't find anything bad about it. Casting was superb and actor who plays Max was just made for this role. Great drama and hard social question about the world we live in with the pretty critical answer suggested. Moral dilemmas in the world without moral are turning against our hero. Then, heroism is relative and changeable in time but money stays the main master. Power of mass control presented by the character of an evil showman looks exactly as the world we live in controlled and operated by mass media. It twists and turns the public opinion when needed and by that controls the moral values by its material needs and not by the need for true. What happens to an honest man as Max in such world is getting lost and then losing himself. Very intelligent portrait of the modern world moral values versus a good man. And one more thing: the movie is definitely not a thriller.

Rob Broekhof Grading this movie with a "five" means grading as "doubtful". Why?! The Movie starts with a quote from a Prime Minister from the Netherlands (from 08/10/2010 until 23/04/2012). A free translation of this quote: "We want to reclaim society from the bastards".I resent that kind of promotion of collective fear, especially because of the way it came across to me in this movie.In the beginning I was able to recognize what was happening; after several drawbacks and being torn between being considered to be a hero and a criminal … the main character "Max" snaps … BUT … how this turns out in the end, was very unlikely.I believe the film should have ended at the point where he drew a gun on those young bastards that were harassing him all the time. One of the intentions of Max was to balance the escalation level of this degenerated conflict … I do not think that there would have been any other way … the law really does protect bastards too much I guess.Alas, Max kept on degenerating after that, and this is where I felt it became doubtful … because how to reclaim society from the bastards when people like Max also become a bastard?! Until then, I think that he truly made a pretty successful effort to act sane! On top of that … I really wonder whether these annoying boys or Max represent the TRUE bastards of society …I guess not … and I do feel that all bastards are basically full of fear … and that the enemy is within US … and it's called FEAR as well … the FEAR for the need to defend yourself in situations as depicted in this movie, and … the FEAR for yourself to do really bad stuff to other people ... to make a true effort to find out how "Room 101" needs to be prepared for someone you dearly hate ... an example of the danger of individual FEAR.Room 101 is a place introduced in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. It is a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love in which the Party attempts to subject a prisoner to his or her own worst nightmare, fear or phobia ... another example of the danger of collective FEAR … the FEAR that this Prime Minister and the movie makers are promoting