The Delivery (1999)

Directed by: Roel Reiné | 105 minutes | action, comedy, thriller | Actors: Fedja van Huêt, Freddy Douglas, Aurélie Meriel, Esmée de la Bretonière, Jonathan Harvey, Christopher Simon, Rik Launspach, Hidde Maas, Steve Hudson, Dimme Treurniet, Carolyn Lilipaly, Ingrid de Vos, Yoshi Ota, Jeroen Beijer, Thibba Toussein

A cast that speaks the most lousy English imaginable, a cop with a circular saw on his arm, a power-hungry psychopath with a chainsaw and a scenario that jumps from one coincidence to another. It seems unimaginable, but it is all reflected in the same feature film. Director Roel Reiné thought he could shoot an exciting road movie with screenwriter David Hilton and an international cast, but nothing could be further from the truth. The will to suppress the Dutch identity of the cast and of the film is where ‘The Delivery’ goes wrong. Because say yourself; what could be more irritating than hearing an actor like Fedja van Huêt say: Noo, wie hef toe goo on.. wie mast sweet hur here.. der ar moor importunt tings do!

‘The Delivery’ tells the story of Alfred (Fedja van Huêt) and Guy (Freddy Douglas) who, after losing everything in a car accident, are forced to raise money quickly. Alfred’s wife Anna (Esmée de la Bretonière) comes up with the idea of ​​transporting XTC pills to Spain for drug lord Spike (Rik Launspach). It seems like a piece of cake, until it turns out that the delivery has to be carried out according to a strict schedule. From five payphones on the route to Spain, Alfred and Guy must keep Spike informed of their progress. The twist literally comes out of the blue in ‘The Delivery’, in the form of a Volkswagen Beetle falling off a bridge and landing right in front of Alfred and Guy. The boys take the beautiful Loulou (Aurélie Meriel) out of the car, without knowing that this French woman is on the run from a terrorist movement. In addition to carrying out their own mission, they will feel the hot breath of a serious criminal on their necks, and be chased by a revengeful police officer (Hidde Maas). A succession of clichés and coincidences follows.

The actor’s performance in ‘The Delivery’ is not admirable. Apart from the fact that only Guy speaks good English throughout the film (his voice is reminiscent of hilarious British productions such as ‘Snatch’ and ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’), Fedja van Huêt and Freddy Douglas do not succeed in comically to express inexperience. Aurélie Meriel skips through the film like a kind of Lara Croft and Esmée de la Bretonière’s declarations of love to Alfred are as implausible as the words of courage to the two friends. Fortunately, Hidde Maas and Rik Launspach make up for something, but the roles as a revenge-seeking chief inspector and a deranged drug lord are also made for them.

Is there nothing good to be found in the film? Anyway. The camera work and the editing are remarkable. Quickly edited images and an ever-moving camera create a chaotic atmosphere, which fits well with the theme of the film. Thoughts are also represented by showing real events. For example, in a first shot we see a car flying out of a bend, after a number of other scenes we see the same car again driving over a telephone booth, to end up in a shot in which the whole can be seen after the collision. In this way we get an impression of the thought construction of the chief inspector in this case, who checks what has happened. Original and beautifully executed, but eventually it becomes cluttered, and the quick editing distracts from some nice visual jokes that the screenplay offers. Sin.

‘The Delivery’ is a classic example of a Dutch director who wants to make it in the US at all costs. Although there is an audience for every film, such a production is not realistic, given a limited budget and in this case the casting. An appropriate advice to Reiné might therefore be: kick it riel!