A chaotic car chase through Amsterdam’s narrow streets and an arrival at an auction house bring the many threads of this comedy together. The heist at the center of it succeeds, though a surprise twist briefly makes it seem as if everything has been lost. In the end, things work out for everyone.
I went in with no expectations, and came away surprised by how well the ingredients fit. A story mixing gay characters, a Pride parade and a robbery could easily have gone wrong; here, it delivers the cheerful, straightforward entertainment it promises. The movie is bright, colorful and full of laughs, and the cast seem to be having a genuinely good time.
The story begins at Chez Nouz, a gay café in the heart of Amsterdam. Its older owner, Adje, has become a father figure to Bertie, the bar’s main drag performer. Bertie never knew his biological father and has spent years imagining he might be the son of a famous Dutch singer. Their makeshift family also includes Babette, the straight waitress, and Rachid, a regular whom Adje gave a room after Rachid’s family threw him out for being gay.
Other familiar faces include Peter-Jan, a handsome gay lawyer, and Gijs, a straight, married glassblower whose workshop is across the street. Gijs feels more at home at the café than anywhere else, much to his wife’s frustration as she stays home with their two children. The large cast takes a little while to establish, but each character eventually has a part to play.
The trouble starts when Adje is hospitalized and Bertie learns that the café is nearly broke. De Beer, the aggressive, somewhat homophobic owner of the club next door, wants to buy the property and expand. Then Adje reveals, from his deathbed, that Bertie’s real father is Helmer—a man with a criminal past involving heists and robberies. Father and son join forces with the others to steal a diamond necklace from the Royal Museum.
The plan takes advantage of the confusion surrounding Amsterdam’s Gay Pride celebrations, including the canal parade and its wildly dressed crowds. Rachid’s job as a security guard at the museum makes him useful to the scheme; he also has a crush on a co-worker who happens to be De Beer’s son. As the group starts planning and rehearsing, the film finds its rhythm. The theft becomes a story about a father and son learning to trust each other and trying to build a real relationship.
There is also a quieter romantic thread: Peter-Jan clearly has feelings for Bertie, who does not notice. Bertie eventually makes up with Helmer and finds love with the lawyer. Rachid, meanwhile, confesses his feelings to his colleague, and they finally kiss in front of De Beer, the homophobic father, who reluctantly comes to terms with their relationship.
Acceptance is the film’s central message, approached from several directions, though it also uses some gay stereotypes for laughs. The heist supplies plenty of comic chaos, and the car chase and auction-house arrival draw the storylines together neatly. I never would have expected a gay heist comedy to work this well, but this one makes the combination a genuinely good time. It is hard not to enjoy a happy ending for everyone. (7/10)