Product Details

• Actors: Katja Schuurman, Johnny de Mol, Fouad Mourigh, Farhane El Hamchaoui, Jones Kruijne
• Directors: Theo van Gogh
• Producers: Cool!
• Format: Import, PAL, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Focus Film Facts
• Run Time: 89 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000BWXZLS
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #624,727 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Netherlands released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: Dutch ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Featurette, Interactive Menu, Music Video, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Theo Van Gogh's Cool! tells the tale of three teenage criminals - (Abdel, Jacky, and Jeffrey) - who end up doing time in a juvenile detention center after messing up a bank robbery. Abdel, who has been changed for the better by his time in the correctional system, learns that their former gang-leader Prof is setting up another big heist. Abdel decides that Prof needs to be taken down and sets about sabotaging Prof's plan.
...Cool!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so Cool, December 13, 2005

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Cool! (DVD)

This film COOL! is the last film made by Theo van Gogh, a vociferous advocate for free speech and the great-great-grandson of Theo van Gogh, brother of the famous Vincent van Gogh, before he was murdered in 2004 by Muslim extremist following a television documentary on the mistreatment of women in the Islam sector. That fact alone gives some reason to watching this low budget, moderately effective movie. One wonders what other projects might have followed from this man's creative output: COOL! is not a great epitaph.

Life in contemporary city streets in Holland finds a small group of Moroccan adolescents whose rather gentle leader is Abdel (Fouad Mourigh), challenged by a life of idealism but propelled by the financial rewards of small crime. One major, though young, gangster is Prof (Johnny de Mol) who manipulates Abdel's boys into a bank heist arranged by Prof and his girl Mabel (Katja Schuurman). The heist is thwarted by undercover cops and Abdel and his gang are placed in a reformatory school where they are to learn the ways to fit into society rather than remain on the unsuccessful periphery. They resist at first but gradually learn though group therapy the benefits of self respect, respect for their fellowmen, and finding goals for turning their nebulous lives around. They are offered passes from the school and during one of those passes an incident occurs when tempted to return to their old ways, an incident that capitalizes on the reform school teachings.

van Gogh's technique for filming this rather lack-luster story was to utilize Hip Hop not only for the background music but also for conveying some of the dialogue of the film. That impairs involvement as it creates more of a vaudeville atmosphere to a serious story. The cast simply isn't strong enough to pull off this caper film, despite some fine moments from Mourigh and Schuurman. The message is clear but the method dilutes it into a too blatant form of preaching. In Dutch and Arabic with subtitles. Grady Harp, December 05