Crazy about A. (2010)

Directed by: Jan Verheyen | 120 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Veerle Baetens, Kevin Janssens, Koen De Graeve, Barbara Sarafian, Matteo Simoni, Jan Van Looveren, Joke Devynck, Kürt Rogiers, Tania Kloek, Michel Van Dousselaere, Sven De Ridder, Peter Bulckaen, Jappe Claes, Herwig Ilegems, Mathijs Scheepers Mathias Sercu, Lotte Heijtenis, Mike Verdrengh, Véronique Leysen

Jan Verheyen is a man of the easiest way. The Flemish director likes to take a tried-and-tested concept to make it his own version. He especially likes to use Dutch films as a blueprint. For example, the Belgian version of ‘All Stars’ (1997) is called ‘Team Spirit’ (2000) and Joram Lürsen’s family film ‘In Oranje’ was corrupted into ‘Buitenspel’ (2005). Also by Lürsen is ‘Everything is Love’, the romantic comedy from 2007 written by Kim van Kooten and inspired by the British mosaic film ‘Love Actually’ (2003), which attracted 1.3 million people to the cinema. And just like many other successful Dutch films, Verheyen was eager to make a Flemish copy of that film. “Fool of A.” (2010) attracted a lot of Flemish people to the theatres, but was slammed by the critics. No wonder, because Verheyen has copied the Dutch original almost word for word.

Just like in ‘Everything is Love’, ‘Zot van A.’ around prom night. The death of the actor (Jappe Claes) who has been playing Sinterklaas for years, half an hour before the arrival of the saintly man in the port of Antwerp, kicks things up a notch. Because all the children are already waiting, a replacement must be found quickly. Production assistant Annette (Joke Devynck) manages to get a – not too benevolent – ​​replacement in grumpy Jean (Michel van Dousselaere). Miraculously, he turns out to be a hit, especially after he rescues a child from the water when he enters. The girl turns out to be the daughter of Arno (Mathias Sercu) and Lydia (Barbara Sarafian), a seemingly happily married couple. But there is more going on behind the scenes. Lydia’s best friend is Anna (Veerle Baetens), who is at odds with her ex and now has to bury her father – Saint Nicholas. The funeral is arranged by Fred (Mathijs Scheepers), who is about to marry his friend Alain (Jan van Looveren), but gets cold feet. Alain’s sister Astrid (Lotte Heijtenis) is waiting for the right one and is hesitant to accept the advances of the handsome top tennis player Paul (Kevin Janssens).

This summary will sound familiar to many Dutch people. Verheyen has made no effort to give his film any individuality. Well, the decor is Antwerp instead of Amsterdam and (most) characters have been given a different name, but otherwise ‘Zot van A.’ an exact copy of ‘Everything is Love’. The humor, the romance, the drama – none of it comes out because we’ve all seen it before. Even the coarse Saint (Michiel Romeijn was the undisputed highlight in ‘Alles is Liefde’ in that role) turns out less well in this Flemish version. Of course there was hardly any depth in the Dutch version, but ‘Zot van A.’ makes it impossible to empathize with the characters even an ounce as emotional moments are rushed flat and fleetingly. A single actor – Barbara Sarafian in front – makes some effort to transcend that superficiality, but the saltless script does not make it easy for them.

“Fool of A.” is typically such a film that relies on the high proportion of Famous Persons and although some actors are also known in the Netherlands (Koen Wauters, Kurt Rogiers, Joke Devynck), these BV’ers appeal to us less than the BN’ ers from ‘Everything is Love’. What also does not help to embrace this film by Jan Verheyen is the total lack of authenticity. Verheyen has played a literal copy of ‘Everything is Love’. If you haven’t seen that film, you might still have some fun with it, although the Flemish production as a whole is of a lesser quality anyway. From a commercial point of view this may have been interesting for Verheyen, but from an artistic point of view he really negates his values ​​as a filmmaker.