A fading singer called Valerie realises she's losing her grip on the public. What she needs is a great big hit, preferably with lyrics penned by her long-time collaborator Lena, who is also a personal friend. Sadly single mom Lena isn't producing much in the way of lyrics, mainly because her private life feels dull and passionless. Valerie hires an unsuccessful male actor and tells him to go and seduce Lena...
"Gek van Geluk" contains a number of nice performances, most notably by actress Plien van Bennekom as Lena. It also contains a number of pleasant jokes, mainly about the acting profession. The scenery is beautiful, and so Dutch that it could be reproduced on a wide variety of posters and postcards. However, the movie sticks closely to the familiar formula of the rom-com. As a viewer, you can easily predict a) that the struggling actor is going to develop genuine feelings for Lena, b) that Lena will feel humiliated and betrayed upon discovering he approached her under false pretenses and c) that eventually the couple will reconcile. This determination to provide happy endings galore even includes a reconciliation between Lena and Valerie : Valerie realises she went too far, and Lena magnanimously forgives her.
It is pretty clear that in real life, the kind of cynical betrayal foisted on the unsuspecting Lena would cause not comedy but tragedy, both on the love and on the friendship front. But the movie ends happily ever after, because : rom-com !
Finally it needs to be noted that the lyrics heard in the movie are remarkably bland and trite. (For instance, there's an image of someone erecting a brick wall and starting to build from the bottom. How else should one build a brick wall - starting with the top layer ?) As a result it's unclear just why the Lena character was supposed to grab pen and paper and pour out yet another delightful work of genius.
"Gek van Geluk" contains a number of nice performances, most notably by actress Plien van Bennekom as Lena. It also contains a number of pleasant jokes, mainly about the acting profession. The scenery is beautiful, and so Dutch that it could be reproduced on a wide variety of posters and postcards. However, the movie sticks closely to the familiar formula of the rom-com. As a viewer, you can easily predict a) that the struggling actor is going to develop genuine feelings for Lena, b) that Lena will feel humiliated and betrayed upon discovering he approached her under false pretenses and c) that eventually the couple will reconcile. This determination to provide happy endings galore even includes a reconciliation between Lena and Valerie : Valerie realises she went too far, and Lena magnanimously forgives her.
It is pretty clear that in real life, the kind of cynical betrayal foisted on the unsuspecting Lena would cause not comedy but tragedy, both on the love and on the friendship front. But the movie ends happily ever after, because : rom-com !
Finally it needs to be noted that the lyrics heard in the movie are remarkably bland and trite. (For instance, there's an image of someone erecting a brick wall and starting to build from the bottom. How else should one build a brick wall - starting with the top layer ?) As a result it's unclear just why the Lena character was supposed to grab pen and paper and pour out yet another delightful work of genius.
