Vet hard (2005)

Director:

Tim Oliehoek

Writers:

Anders Thomas Jensen (screenplay)
Wijo Koek (writer)

Release Date:

3 February 2005 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Bennie, a clumsy criminal who's touchy about his weight, teams up with his adoptive father's biological (serial killer) son...

Plot Keywords:

Fall From Window | Father Son Relationship | Explosion | Shower | Underwater

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jack Wouterse	...	Bennie
Kurt Rogiers	...	Koen Mast
Bracha van Doesburgh	...	Katja Wielaard
Jaak Van Assche	...	Johan Mast
Johnny de Mol	...	Peter
Cas Jansen	...	Martin
Peter Van den Begin	...	Vuk
Ton Kas	...	Milo
Bert André	...	Dr. Van Isacker
Cees Geel	...	Lars Meuleman
Chazia Mourali	...	Nurse Rita
Menno Stijntjes	...	Dr. John
Marjan Luif	...	Bank attendant
Estelle Gullit	...	Jeanette
Sanne Wallis de Vries	...	Jennifer

Also Known As:

Too Fat Too Furious (International: English title)
Volle gas (Belgium: Flemish title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

Netherlands | Belgium | UK

Language:

Dutch | French | Arabic

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:16 | Netherlands:12

Filming Locations:

's-Hertogenbosch, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands

Company:

Fu Works

Trivia:

During filming of the scene where the car crashes into the movie theater, the car missed the mannequin of Jac. Goderie, which it was supposed to hit. The set had to be rebuilt for re-shooting.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Bennie brakes in front of the large truck with the ramp on the back, cameras can be seen in the middle of the ramp's back. These are used for a subsequent shot where the car drives "over" the camera.

Quotes:

Peter: [explaining his plan] Okay. Bennie, this is you.
[takes a thick bottle]
Bennie: [looks at Peter angrily]
Peter: [takes a thin bottle] Then eh... this is you. Okay. During visiting hours you sign in, and then the guards take you to Koen. And Koen is located here, in the middle of the square. In the meantime, we place a crane worker in one of the alleys next to the prison. And when we place the crane so that it...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Van Speijk: Er staat een paard in de gang (#1.7)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Una Paloma Blanca

Pleasantly Simple

I went to see Vet hard (or as it is called in Belgium 'volle gas' ) with expectations that weren't too high. My experience with former dutch attempts at action movies, especially the ones as far back as the 'flodder' movies and other dick maas attempts like 'amsterdamned', were not too good. And the trailer of vet hard did not promise any improvement.

What a sigh of relief I could breathe when I watched the movie! The story is erratic and makes no sense at times, but the movie does not aspire or pretend to be a feat of high story telling ability. Instead it focuses on it's best assets; fun action sequences which are exhilarating at times, despite the limited budget, and slapstick-like humor provided by a fantastic Jack Wouterse in the role of 'Bennie' and Peter van den Begin as 'Vuk'.

The acting overall ranges from adequate to excellent, the best being provided by Kurt Rogiers who portrays a necrophiliac serial-rapist in a way that he is almost likable. Jack Wouterse plays a convincing and extremely funny overweight Bennie and carries the role of the main character well. I wasn't too exited by the acting of Bracha van Doesburgh however, who looks great, but, as a fist timer tries her best to portray her character as believable as possible but fails in doing so at times.

All in all Vet Hard has it's weak points, a lot of them actually, but it is easy to forgive them. The movie was made with love and care and it is clearly visible the cast had a lot of fun making it.

An 8 out of 10