Loonies (2002)

Loonies is a touching comedy about five psychiatric patients who are forced to exchange their familiar surroundings for an old-fashioned, impersonal institution. Partly because of the ... See full summary »

Director:

Bobby Eerhart

Writers:

Karin van Holst Pellekaan, Martin van Waardenberg

Stars:

Karin van Holst Pellekaan, Martin van Waardenberg, Dick van den Toorn

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Karin van Holst Pellekaan	...	Bep Brul (as Karen van Holst Pellekaan)
Martin van Waardenberg	...	De Majoor
Dick van den Toorn	...	Fats
Judith Bovenberg	...	Mevrouw De Haas
John Buijsman	...	Dr. Doolittle
Jacqueline Blom	...	Zuster Ten Hoeven
Walter Crommelin	...	Bomhoff
Ria Eimers	...	Hellemans
Adriaan Adriaanse	...	Aadje
Gijs Scholten van Aschat	...	Albertus Marinus Jacobus Hagenstein-Huygens
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vincent Bijlo	...	Priest
Cees Heyne
Floris Heyne
Tanja Jess	...	Chantal
Edwin Jonker

Storyline

Loonies is a touching comedy about five psychiatric patients who are forced to exchange their familiar surroundings for an old-fashioned, impersonal institution. Partly because of the severe regime of a dreadful nurse, the five decide to escape from their new home and go back to the old one under their own steam. After a drastic confrontation with the 'normal' outside world that results in fighting and panic, the group breaks up. Each of the five patients realise their dreams individually, but ultimately they decide to choose for each other and the familiarity of their own place. Loonies is a film with light-hearted and cheeky humour that, in a moving way, takes us into the pleasantly disturbed world of five somewhat romanticised psychiatric patients.

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Plot Keywords:

nurse | f rated | escape attempt | tank | restraint | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

official site (Dutch)

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch

Release Date:

10 October 2002 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Hoopot

Company Credits

Production Co:

Get Reel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Composer Theo Nijland claimed that he was inspired by certain French and Italian films from his youth, which shared similarities in the storytelling. He believed these films starred Louis de Funès lots of times. He could not remember the music from those films, so basically based his score on music he had never heard before with a happy, illustrative and fast paced character to it.

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Connections

Referenced in De Nationale Wetenschapsquiz (2002)

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Soundtracks

Wanneer gaan we weer naar huis
Written by Theo Nijland
Performed by Brigitte Kaandorp
Produced by Frank van der Weij and Peter Smid

User Reviews

Funny and warm film, and not only for kids

In Loenatik, de Moevie (Loonies), the crazy characters of the children TV-series "Loenatik" (1997) have to leave their safe haven "Zonnedael" and move to another institution. They don't like it there, sneak out, and each of them gets involved in a big adventure.

If you liked the series, well, this is way better. If you didn't like or don't even know the series, well, this movie can be seen completely separate from the series. It has way more depth, more story, more character development, a lot more warmth and way more adventure than the TV series had. It is a movie in its own right.

The audience at the Nederlands Film Festival 2002 in Utrecht, The Netherlands, chose this movie as their favorite. It is very funny and moving, well-paced and well-directed by Bobby Eerhart, who obviously put a lot of effort in making sure everyone in the audience would be emotionally involved with each of the characters. Remember Minoes (2001)? Dutch filmmakers sure know how to make high quality family entertainment, and Loenatik, de Moevie is once again proof of this.

Whether you are 6 or 60 years old, if you feel like having a good time, with a tear and a smile, go see this movie, I highly recommend it.