Our Boys in Miami (2020)

Directed by: Johan Nijenhuis | 115 minutes | comedy | Actors: Jim Bakkum, Martijn Fischer, Juvat Westendorp, Eva van de Wijdeven, Malik Mohammed, Matheu Hinzen, Maaike Martens, Jason Cerda, Sanne Vogel, Laura Ault, Jaimy Dorenbosch, Soufyan Gnini, Stefany Pacheco, Francesca Pichel, Marit van Bohemen, Eva van der Post

Egmonder Jim Bakkum was only fifteen years old when he became famous overnight in 2002 thanks to his participation in the very first season of the talent show ‘Idols’. Although he lost the final to Jamai one year older, his participation has left him with a decent career in the entertainment industry. A number 1 hit, a platinum debut album, a wax figure and a concert in a sold-out HMH; In those early years, his success was endless. That success is fleeting, became apparent when his second album was nowhere near the success of his debut. However, Jim did not give up and turned his arrows to television, musicals and film, although in the meantime he also continued to release singles and albums. Little is left of the scrawny boy from the ‘Idols’ era, because Jim – now a father of three children – went to the gym and grew an impressive torso that has been used several times by filmmaker Johan Nijenhuis as a viewer’s magnet, including in ‘Verliefd op Ibiza’ (2013) and ‘Rokjesdag’ (2016), but most prominently in ‘ Onze Jongens’ (2016), the Dutch answer to the American stripper film ‘Magic Mike’ (2012).

The muscular bodies of Bakkum and his fellow actors were so popular with a mainly female audience – it was the second most visited Dutch film of that year – that a second film was expected. ‘Our Boys in Miami’ (2020) continues where ‘Our Boys’ ended, although the relationship of freebooter Jorrit (Jim Bakkum) has already come to an end, to the frustration of his thirteen-year-old son Gijs (Matheu Hinzen from the Hazes film ‘Bloed, sweat & tears’ from 2015) who would like to see his father not run away when the going gets tough. Otherwise, he’d better live with his mother (Sanne Vogel). Jorrit sees no incentive in his son’s remark to make something out of it now and then, but a license to spend time with his best friend Bas (Martijn Fischer, who is in financial trouble), reunited here with his young opponent from ‘Blood, sweat & tears. ‘, Hinzen) to leave for Miami. They want to start a strip club on a busy street, but in a deplorable condition, but the very wealthy owner of the building, Pablo (Jason Cerda), demands the first payment within a month; he has few expectations and hopes that the handy Dutchmen will refurbish the building for him for little money, so that he can further expand his territory in Miami’s nightlife. Jorrit, Bas and their buddies Thijs (Juvat Westendorp) and newcomer Boris (Malik Mohammed) are not easy to catch and try to draw attention to their club in a creative way.

It turns out that there are a lot of Dutch women walking around in Miami, because both Jorrit and Bas coincidentally come up with a clean one from the Dutch clay. Bas has a great connection with a woman who works in the local DIY store (Maaike Martens), while Jorrit has set his sights on the elusive Lola (Eva van de Wijdeven), who is also in Pablo’s taste. fall. The men are also not always on the same page, but with that we have had the most important conflicts in this feather-light film. ‘Our Boys in Miami’ has only one goal: to entertain. You don’t need a complicated plot, complex characters or original storylines for this, has been the credo of director Johan Nijenhuis for years; as long as it’s entertaining. Instead we get a lot of bare upper bodies, a single bare lower body, choreographed down to the last detail, sizzling dance and comic scenes, beautiful cars and an exciting sex scene that will give many a red ear. Jim Bakkum has his shirt off more often than on, just like Westendorp (who, like Mohammed and Fischer, mainly has to provide the comic relief). The fact that the very young Hinzen outclasses almost all adult actors with his natural playing says more about his talent than about that of the others.

It doesn’t matter in a movie like this. ‘Our Boys in Miami’ is light-hearted entertainment without pretensions. It’s literally and figuratively not much, so put your mind to zero and immerse yourself in Florida’s vibrant nightlife, where a couple of Dutch construction workers in bare skin are rocking things. Ideal food for a Ladies Night.