Oh Baby (2017)

Directed by: Thomas Acda | 96 minutes | comedy | Actors: Gijs Naber, Renée Fokker, Sanne Vogel, Hanna van Vliet, Eric van Sauers

After twenty years, Thomas Acda and Paul de Munnik put an end to their wildly successful cabaret and music duo Acda en De Munnik in 2015. Anyone who thinks that the gentlemen have been out of work since then is wrong. Since then, De Munnik has released a music album and toured Dutch theaters with his own performance. Acda wrote a novel (‘Onderweg met roadie’), wrote songs for the musical ‘De Marathon’, acted in several films and series and is currently starring in a musical for the first time; as Tevye in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’. The artistic centipede also has ambitions as a director. After the TV movie ‘Fake’ (2016), the romantic comedy ‘Oh Baby’ (2017) has now been released, Acda’s first cinema film. The fact that he knows many people in the Dutch film world is evident from the fact that every part – no matter how small – is played by a well-known actor. The screenplay is by Nienke Römer, who previously wrote the screenplay for the feature film ‘Hartentocht’ (2016) and episodes of the prison series ‘Celblok H’, among others.

In ‘Oh Baby’ we see Gijs Naber in the role of songwriter Ruben, who doesn’t take life too seriously, let alone love. Although he doesn’t seem to worry too much financially, he’s been dreaming for years of that one hit with which he definitely establishes his name. It hurts him that the studio boss (Kasper van Kooten) sticks an insufferable beat under all his carefully composed soul stirrings. And while Ruben is muddling through, he receives the terrible news that Evelien (Tina de Bruin), the studio assistant with whom he has been flirting for a while, has died. An even bigger shock follows when it turns out that Ruben is the father of Evelien’s son Oscar, who is not yet a one-year-old. Evelien’s younger sister Lucy (Hanna van Vliet) has traveled headlong from Australia to say goodbye to Evelien. In her eyes, Ruben, who is assigned to care for Oscar, is too irresponsible to be a father to her nephew. She decides to keep an eye on things, but that is not without a struggle. She herself also has a lot to learn about responsibility, raising babies, life and love.

‘Oh Baby’ pretends to be a fresh rom-com, but in fact follows all the beaten paths of the genre. Moreover, the fact that a man suddenly has to take care of a baby on his own is not new (we saw it last year, for example, in the French film ‘Demain tout commence’). The fact that the film has something ‘fresh’ about it is mainly due to the sparkling, natural performance of Hanna van Vliet in the role of Lucy. She steals the show in every scene she plays in. Too bad her chemistry with Naber leaves something to be desired. Also in humor ‘Oh Baby’ differs somewhat from its genre contemporaries. Eric van Sauers in particular, in the role of Ruben’s best friend Bor, regularly provides a smile in his search for a new hobby (because he thinks he is bad at golf and therefore has to find something new). Unfortunately, his character is barely developed further. That actually applies to all supporting roles. A shame about all those excellent actors that Acda has at its disposal (in addition to the aforementioned Liz Snoijink, Renée Fokker, Sanne Vogel, Yannick van de Velde and Tanja Jess) – especially with Snoijink and Fokker it is almost embarrassing how little they get to do.

Acda has ‘dressed up’ his film with dream scenes. Ruben who – complete with a procession of musicians and backing singers – shines in his one-man show; the more energetic and lively the performance in his dream is, the more carefree he feels at that moment. In addition, Evelien’s ‘ghost apparition’ pops up a few times. Tricks that can hardly be called original, of course, but don’t really disturb. ‘Oh Baby’ is a very nice first movie for centipede Thomas Acda. The film may not be as original and fresh as hoped, but for young parents there is a lot of recognition and thanks to the talented and radiant Hanna van Vliet and the light humor this romkom looks pleasantly away.