Hotel the big L (2017)

Directed by: Ineke Houtman | 85 minutes | drama, comedy, family | Actors: Julian Ras, Aiko Beemsterboer, Bente Fokkens, Abbey Hoes, Frank Lammers, Linde van der Storm, Tobias Kersloot, Ischa de Boer, Fleur du Pre

Sjoerd Kuyper and the cinema form a happy marriage. Previously, ‘The pocket knife’, which was based on his book (and for which he wrote the screenplay himself) was already very successfully received and he also worked on successful films such as ‘Morrison gets a sister’ and ‘My grandfather the bank robber’. His book ‘Hotel de grote L’, for which he won the Zilveren Griffel in 2015, was the ideal basis for an entertaining youth film with a deeper layer. The story is about twelve to thirteen year old Kos, who lives with his father and three sisters in a hotel near the beach. The young children’s mother has passed away, so when the couple’s sturdily built and heavily smoking father has a heart attack and has to stay in the hospital indefinitely, the family business falls on the children’s shoulders. Because of course there are also money worries and that is why the premium for the disability insurance has not been paid for months.

Kos is busy with it. Because his eldest sister is in the middle of exams, his middle sister is especially annoying and he can’t rely on his youngest sister (who walks around the hotel with a stuffed rabbit and releases caterpillars in the beds of the guests). Then he also has his head with the handsome Isabel, the sister of one of the boys from his football team, but of whom he really understands nothing. And there is a chance that he will be scouted by Ajax.

‘Hotel de grote L’ is a somewhat messy film that regularly makes fun of its credibility. There is also no active work on avoiding predictable events. When it turns out that 7000 euros must be on the table to pay off the debts and save the hotel, and a Miss Beach pageant is announced with the top prize consisting of 5000 euros, you just know that the rest is also earned. The only unpredictable factor is Kos’ participation in the Miss Beach pageant, but it’s hard to believe that no one realizes that it’s not Briek, Kos’ middle sister, but Kos himself. It’s a shame that these scenes don’t work, even though they were convincing on paper.

For younger viewers, ‘Hotel de Grote L’ is mainly a farcical comedy with crazy, but sympathetic characters. The deeper layer in the book is not really expressed, which probably doesn’t matter much to the target group. Nice to see once, but the book is even better.