A Monkey Movie Review

Remember when they used to make good movies that were a bit long but you didn't mind because the film was so engrossing that you would have watched it for another hour or two if you had to? Remember when they made movies with damn fine actors who hooked you in the second they came on screen? Have you seen a film like that come out of Hollywood lately? No?


Well, I did see one like that last night but it came out of Holland of all places.
Black Book is a larger than life movie that is one of the best films I've seen in years. It tells the story of a Jewish woman who is trapped in Holland at the end of World War Two. I'm not going to delve into the plot because if I did it would spoil the movie for some of you. I'll just say that this film has more twists and turns than a mountain road. Paul Verhoeven, director of RoboCop, Total Recall, and many other pieces of Hollywood fluff, has gone back to his days of making good films outside of Hollywood and in his native language of Dutch.


The leads, Carice Van Houten and Sebastian Koch, are brilliant, especially Ms. Van Houten. She plays her character with verve and gusto and she she does all her own singing in the film as well. She looks great in and out of all the 1940's period costumes they put on her. Koch, who some of you may remember from his turn as the playwright in The Lives of Others, manages to play one of the most sympathetic Nazi's ever. Other outstanding performance were turned in by Halina Reijn, Thom Hoffman, and Waldemar Kobus.


I can't say enough good things about this movie and it's surprising because I thought I had had my fill of WW2 films. It just goes to show you that if you have a good story and you tell it well then the material never gets old. Of course it doesn't hurt if you have Paul Verhoeven directing and you cast Carice Van Houten in the lead. I highly recommend this movie.