willo-14 Shu-fen's comment has very intelligent observations, i agree entirely and won't try to surpass his enthusiast, excellent review. I am familiar with the beloved Dutch TV series from the late sixties that was behind this film and have enjoyed this remake, true to the spirit of the original as it is, immensely. The speed and inventiveness in this film are incredible, one slapstick-like scene after another, songs and musical-like scenes bursting out everywhere all the time, and yet, very clear cut small miracles of natural acting abound, intimate scenes, close ups, small conversations, never too long... Viewers from abroad will fail to recognize and enjoy the nice local accents of various Dutch towns in the speech of some actors, but that's always something inevitably "lost in translation"... - willem ouwerkerk

sabl My husband's Dutch, but darned if I can speak the language. Still... I came out of the movie a week ago, and I'm still singing "Niet op de stollen staan / Ja zuester, nee zuester; niet met de deur slam / Ja zuster, nee zuster" (sp?). And HE doesn't sing...yet I keep catching him singing the Opa song. I keep thinking of the twisp and giggling.The film is very, very, totally very dutch in wonderful ways. If you like some of the best comic Indian films of the 60's, this has some of the same charm, too. The cinematography and physical comedy is as gently goofy as the story and characters, and the actors are charming. A note to the guy who left after 40 minutes...Boordevol starts out one-note but goes through...changes. Too bad you missed them.

rnekic I'm usually one who can appreciate light-hearted kookiness and I've enjoyed my share of musicals...but this movie is virtually unwatchable. It rapidly declines from a mildly amusing Singing In The Rain-like song and dance number into such over-the-top unfunny vaudevillian absurdity that I had to leave the theater after about 40 minutes. I felt like I was watching an awful high school production.Although he is inexplicably raved about by others here, the character of Boordevol stands out as the most unbearable, by far. This painfully shrill caricature destroys what little charm the film manages to produce; making me wince every time he appeared on the screen.Large portions of the audience around me found endless hilarity in this film but I just didn't get it...at all. It is, simply put, one of the most ridiculous films I've ever seen.

Havan_IronOak This truly unique, truly wacky musical is something only European cinema could produce. From the Busby Berkeley-style production number in the opening credits to the 50's beefcake inspired pigeon feeding song (take THAT Mary Poppins bird lady), this musical gleefully totters along the line between silly and salacious with the occasional good-natured stumble into John Waters territory (One of the songs even mentions Baltimore) This movie is NOT for everyone. However, if you are familiar with the vernacular of the big budget musical, if you liked the zany sensibility of Little Shop of Horrors, if you can enjoy a movie where the only explosion occurs off camera (a tribute to You Can't Take it With You?) then this may just be the film for you.