Johan Nijenhuis strikes again

In his 2014 movie Toscaanse Bruiloft, Johan Nijenhuis does exactly what you would expect from him. In a beautiful scenery, he creates a weird romantic comedy in which dogs get shot, women get threatened with knives and pasta carabonara is served with cream. There is however one bright side in the movie.

The movie revolves around a group of friends who appear to have all had sex with each other and are eager to get married. Sanne is the wedding planner who is supposed the get this done, Jeroen is the semi- douche bag leader of this group. The fact that Jeroen is so unsympathetic makes it hard to enjoy the obvious and predictable ending - that he gets married to Sanne.

While everybody is getting married (during the movie the viewer witnesses no less than four weddings), a series of bizarre events takes place. The dog of the alcoholic Bella gets shot to death, the apparently psychopathic Koos threatens to stab a woman when she refuses to have sex with him and it turns out - surprise surprise - that Jeroen has had sex with the bride. The most shocking part was the totally unnecessary death of one of the most lovable characters. He leaves behind a depressed widow and the movie just continues.

In this film, director Johan Nijenhuis succeeds in doing what he always does: creating a romantic comedy which lacks both romance and comedy.

I've decided to rate this movie based on ten criteria.

1. Scenario. The scenario is very confusing. There are too many things going on, too many weddings and some very unsatisfying deaths. No star. 2. Script. The dialogues were sloppy and not funny. Main character Jeroen just keeps on popping one-liners that just don't make any sense. Again no star. 3. Camera-work. Excellent. Tuscany is portrayed beautifully - the cameramen have really done a good job. A star for this. 4. Actors. The casting was fine, the women were beautiful. The actors played parts that suited them. A star for this. 5. Acting. The acting was dramatic - but not in the good way. It was literally horrible. The main character was by far the worst actor. No stars. 6. Characters. There was almost no character development, no stars. 7. Stage setting and clothing. This was fine. The clothes and the scenery were fine, I'll give it one star. 8. Music. Half a star. The Italian music was a nice touch in the beginning, but when the same song is played four times, the originality of it ceases to exist. 9. Authenticity. The film had four weddings and a funeral, and on top of that it really resembles 'The wedding planner.' Again no stars. 10. Goodwill Factor. No, Johan Nijenhuis, No...

This adds up to three-and-a-half stars, which seems too much for this film. The only bright side I spoke of is that this will hopefully be the last Johan Nijenhuis film.

This movie is a visual delight, a mockery of high fashion, and an enjoyable comedy of errors for viewers who can cope with the differences between European and American storytelling.

It's an ensemble piece, with the male and female leads getting not much more centre-stage time than the rest of the players. There are strong elements of farce, some nods to the physical comedy tradition of Commedia del Arte, and a lot of sacred cows being shot down.

First love, second love, the nature of marriage and the reasons for divorce all get a look-in, as does the mutable nature of family, making it a more thoughtful script than is usual in US wedding movies.

If you can cope with subtitles and take in serious subjects amidst laughter, allow for some in-jokes you won't get about attitudes between, for example, Italian and Dutch and other European countries, you just might enjoy this cheery little visual feast of a wedding movie.

Before I watch films, I often check out the IMDb page for the movie just to get some background information. Well, there wasn't much on the Dutch film Toscaanse Bruiloft but what really made me laugh was the summary. Instead of the usual lengthy paragraph explaining the theme of the film, it simply said "A bunch of people get married in Tuscany"! Well, there is more to it than that….but not that much more! While this was a very good looking film, it lacked depth and plot. So, perhaps the amazingly brief summary wasn't so far off after all.

This film is set in Tuscany at a bed & breakfast that specializes in weddings. The owners are Dutch and their patrons, oddly, all seem to all be Dutch. It's owned by Tom and Marla. Tom's daughter, Sanne is in charge of all the weddings. However, this is NOT an ideal situation, as since Sanne's recent divorce, she seems to be living vicariously through these marrying couples instead of going out and experiencing life and getting back into a relationship herself.

Almost all of the film concerns Sanne and one particular wedding party. At this wedding, Sanne meets the best man, Jeroen, and the viewer is POSITIVE the two will eventually marry—mostly because of formula instead of any real logical reason for their being together. Jeroen, despite his looks and money, is a real jerk—and a self-centered one at that. He's slept with just about ALL the women in the wedding party and is proud that he never allows himself to become emotionally entangled with them. So how would you ever expect Sanne to fall for him considering that she is a hopeless romantic? What change would a man who appears to be a sex addict have in having a serious relationship with anyone (other than himself)? But, you just KNOW this is going to happen eventually— that IS the formula. Even when Jeroen inexplicably gets engaged to another woman and Sanne gets engaged to a hot-tempered Italian, the viewer still fully expects Jeroen and Sanne to eventually wed. And, when the inevitable occurs (complete with very romantic music from Andrea Bocelli and gorgeous cinematography), I am sure most viewers will think "I wonder how long they'll stay together….perhaps a week or two at the most, most likely"!

If you can set aside the plot (and I had a hard time doing this), the film is very well made. The direction and look of the film is gorgeous— and might just have you wanting to run off to Tuscany yourself! It simply looks great. But, like many wedding cakes covered in frosting, it might look great but it tastes pretty sticky and sweet. The bottom line is that although the film is filled with romance, much of it just doesn't make sense because the characters were rather one-dimensional and the situations contrived. You could do better if you're looking for a date night film.