Beautiful Life (2011)

The Dutch film industry has produced quite a lot of fun kids movies. Films like “Het Geheim”, “Kikkerdril” and “Het Paard van Sinterklaas” are all entertaining movies for the smaller movie audience.

Beautiful Life (the Dutch title would translate to My Grandfather the Bank Robber) is another one that can be added to the list. It tells the story of a father/grandfather (Michiel Romeyn) who after the death of his wife is seen as someone with dementia. His granddaughter Grace (Zoë van der Kust) doesn’t really believe it as she sees how he is struggling with his loss. She tries to help him as much as she can. She doesn’t know her own father as she never met him. She only knows his name and that he was from Surinam (one of the former Dutch colonies). Her mother doesn’t want to tell her why he wasn’t around for her. When her grandfather shows her his picture it ignites the flame for her to begin her search for some answers to her questions.

When watching this you are slowly introduced to the world of the “de Haan” Family. It’s a very busy family running several businesses like a bar, a bakery and a law firm. They all live close to each other and spend a lot of time together. It’s a close-knit group and Grace is willing to sometimes go against their feelings to get things done.
The movie was mainly shot in Rotterdam although some scenes were shot outside of it (for example in The Hague). If you lived your whole life in Rotterdam you will notice that some shots don’t match up (for example when they are driving through the city in a car). These are little things that most people will not notice, but it is fun to see if you know the city.

Besides some funny moments this movie also has some suspense. I thought that the language in some places was a bit too rude for the youngest viewers (especially in a scene where two rappers appear who start to annoy very quickly). The bank robbery itself works and manages to hide a great twist which wouldn’t look out-of-place in a Hollywood movie. Although this is essentially a kids movie it manages to have a lot of emotion in it and while you are watching it you feel a lot of sympathy for the characters if you compare it to a movie like Sonny Boy (for which a review will be up soon). Just like in Sonny Boy a part of the movie was shot in Surinam. It’s just a small bit of the film, but it manages to capture the country realistically with school children wearing their uniforms, the bright busses which always play music and the bad state of some of the roads. Having been there myself twice these were things that were recognisable.

Beautiful Life is a nice family movie, with great acting which manages to entertain both young and old.

Score: 8