Bon Bini Holland (DVD) – Movie Review
A sunny vacation on a beach in Curacao is something we all long for every now and then, after a stressful period at work. Nonetheless, if you do decide to book a holiday home at a sunny destination, be sure to check some reviews online, as things might just turn out slightly different than expected.
Starting a business is never easy, but it’s always best to earn your money by doing honest business. Robertico (Jandino Asporaat) and his friend Norwin (Sergio IJsel), had to find that out the hard way. Robertico runs a business on Curacao, called Bon Bini Bungalows, which provides holiday homes to tourists. Quite luxurious holiday homes they are, but what their clients don’t know, is that these are no holiday homes at all, but the proper homes of Curacao inhabitants who just left for a vacation themselves. Robertico and Norwin get busted when a resident comes back for his passport, only to find the two of them showing clients around the house. To make things even worse, another house they rented to students, turns out to be that of Eddy Mathilda (Hans Dagelet),a man you’d rather not mess around with. Mathilda threatens Robertico and demands 200.000 gulden, to get his house back into its former state.
There is nothing left to do for Robertico than to go to his aunt Judeska (Jandino Asporaat) in the Netherlands, in the hopes of finding a job over there and be safe from Mr. Mathilda. His aunt is arrogant, complacent and selfish, but she does give him a place to stay. He also finds a job quite soon at the chicken diner where his aunt works. It’s not much of a job though, and when he hears of a Mr. Maduro (Dennis Rudge), who also came from Curacao with nothing but is now a successful hotel owner, he buys himself a fake designer suit from a shady Chinese guy and heads over to his hotel. Mr. Maduro is not at the hotel, but Robertico finds him at the golf course and, even though his golfing skills suck, he immediately makes an impression. He tells the hotel owner that he is the owner of Bon Bini Bungalows, looking for one more investor to build a magnificent hotel on the beach back on Curacao. Mr. Maduro is intrigued and would gladly invest, but his business partner first wants to see some facts, and thus the scam begins. Robertico tries to frame Maduro to pay off his debt, but things get more complicated than foreseen when he meets Maduro’s beautiful daughter Noëlla (Liliana de Vries).
When it comes to the flow, there’s no denying that all sorts of things are happening all the time. Robertico gets himself in a mess that only gets bigger, and he does so in a very lively way, involving lots of talking, laughing and pretending. This movie has action, laughs, romance, in short: a bit of everything. While this might certainly be a strength, trying to please many people, it is also a weakness. This way the film has it all, yet nothing elaborate or complicated. Overall the jokes aren’t bad, but due to the sometimes completely incomprehensible pronunciation, jokes just get looked over. On the other hand, we watched the film in Dutch, without subtitles, but for non-native speakers, jokes might actually be clearer due to the subtitles.
Overall the acting is quite good, yet sometimes it seems to become more like overacting. There are some characters that are real caricatures, like Judeska and, while it is probably a love or hate thing, we just weren’t a fan of Jandino Asproaat’s rendition of her. Then again, that might also have something to do with the character itself. As Robertico however, he is much more likeable and actually does quite a good job.
The one extra feature this release has to offer is a making of. You get some more information by the actors about the characters, as well as an insight into how the film was made. It’s a fun extra that actually reveals a few unexpected things.
Conclusion
Bon Bini Holland is a film where you just have to sit back and laugh. It has a bit of everything, which might be a strength, but is more of a weakness since it means that the film doesn’t get very elaborate, as well as a bit predictable. Nonetheless, jokes are funny enough and the action gives it a good flow. We weren’t that impressed, yet if you are up for it, feel free to find out for yourself.
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