Director: Johan Nijenhuis
Distributor: eOne Entertainment
Duration: 112 minutes
Onze Jongens (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
When you think about the Magic Mike movies, the first thing that will pop in your mind will be the images of a lot of handsome men showing off their moves. Of course, it is always fun to see some new bodies now and then. There are probably quite some other versions out there as well, just like the Dutch version ‘Onze Jongens’. Although only Dutch people will understand what they’re saying, at least you’ll be able to see some trained bodies.
In this movie, you’re mostly following the handsome construction worker Jorrit (Jim Bakkum). He worked on a drilling platform but after a few years of working there, he got sacked. It’s time to go back home, where he has still some unfinished business. He left a son Gijs (Matheu Hinzen) behind with his ex-girlfriend Sammy (Sanne Vogel) and it seems that the wounds didn’t heal yet. To get back on track, he visits his old work where he meets up with his best friend Bas (Martijn Fischer) and the new crew. It seems that things aren’t going too well. The construction workers aren’t getting much work and although Jorrit gets another shot, it’s clear he’s been out of the scene for a long time.
All of the sudden, he gets a rather weird request. He is asked to perform a striptease for an employee in the building they’re working at. At the beginning he is not that keen on this job but after his performance, he’s hooked. Together with the ‘Onze Jongens’ crew, he starts a striptease business. Of course, things aren’t going so smoothly, especially with his newfound parenthood and love troubles. In the end, what is going to prevail?
As this isn’t an action movie, you can’t expect a really high pace. The flow of the movie is just right for you to sit back and enjoy some half-naked men rather than to think about certain elements or to get frustrated about how slow everything is going. Don’t expect the most deep storyline, although there are more than enough times that you’re confronted with certain aspects of life-like love, sorrow and disappointment. The movie tends to bring this quite nicely, nonetheless it does feel a bit out of place. These subjects are also available in Magic Mike for instance, but it sometimes feels that the director wanted to emphasize some of these emotions too much, making it an overkill. If you can see past that, you’ll have a good laugh now and then, thanks to the jokes and one-liners that are present.
Taking the acting into account, the male testosterone is strong in this movie and they did a fairly good job. Jim Bakkum was cut out for this role as his mysterious looks and glances can rail in any woman, although the other scenes were a bit less convincing. It’s not that he did a bad job but it felt like this wasn’t really his cup of tea. The rest of the crew helped shape the movie to what it is now, but the main focus is on the character Jorrit. Nonetheless they all did a good job, especially Jorrit’s best friend Bas, performed by Martijn Fischer. It can’t be easy to go into the role of a stripper when you’ve never really had any training or ambition to do so, so job well done.
If you were hoping to get some juicy extras where you could see how they’ve trained or practiced their moves, you’re out of luck. Starting the Blu-ray just initiates the movie, so no extras were added. This is a missed opportunity, as it would have been great to see some bloopers or interviews with the actors on how they felt with the roles they had in this movie.
Conclusion
Onze Jongens is a Dutch movie that will get your heart beating faster, when you’re into half-naked men of course. Next to some fresh ‘meat’, you will also be presented with different aspects of life and you’ll be able to see how they cope. It might feel a bit too much sometimes, but the torsos make up for that. Are you ready for some striptease acts?
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