Customer Reviews

The Delivery [VHS]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I enjoyed this movie thoroughly, it wasn't an over the top action movie with unbelieveable special efx (i.e. MI2), had an engaging cast with nice chemistry, and European sensibilities that are uniquely French/Dutch/Spain, etc., but also American. An example would be that all the main characters speak English, but you would need the subtitles on to understand some of the dialogue in this black comedy. An American road trip movie, but done European as the director states in one of the commentaries. I enjoyed the two would-be drug traffikers totally out of their league getting tangled with the sexy and demure LouLou who continuously gets them deeper and deeper into trouble. LouLou, a reluctant terrorist against European unification, knows guns, bombs, fighting, but looks good in a mini-skirt that you wouldn't mind being taken hostage by her. They drove crappy cars stolen along the way and they mostly wore one set of clothes in the movie which are not totally essential in the formula road movie, but I liked it because it made them more human and accessible and you identify with their story. Diverging plot lines converge effortlessly at the end of the movie providing a satisfying longing for Delivery II I hope. In the commentary they mention they were getting great press and bidding war in the 1999 Cannes film festival where they were a big hit. A Dutch director working with an English producer both creating a movie with English, French, and Dutch actors in the Netherlands that was distributed by an American company, how could you not like that?!?!

This was an Amazon recommendation and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it was going to another low budget movie where the people swear at each other a lot. And though to some extent they do, the array of motely characters kept me interested and the bad guy was really a pretty bad guy. I rate this more highly than the overhyped "Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels".

Of course it helps to have such a drop dead gorgeous actress as Aurélie Meriel in a movie. Oh the accent!

Hoo boy...yet another MTV-obsessed feature director fancying himself Jean-Luc Godard. Roel Reine's editing and shots are really no different from so many other indie films, ruined by a fixation on "a new way of seeing the world" chock full of hyperactive camera work, choppy editing (with prerequisite jump-cutting, as if features were commercials) and hipper-than-thou tone. About 90% of indie films these days are ruined by this fixation. But The Delivery doesn't .... all the way, thanks to a somewhat interesting script (though hackneyed at points, and erratically paced), appealing players, and some nifty action sequences.

Add a star for Freddy Douglas, whose squinty-eyed, edgy performance as jaded ex-British officer Guy is entertaining to watch. Romantic co-star Aurelie Meriel is ravishingly beautiful and easy on the eyes, but unfortunately, her performance is somewhat one-note. It's nice to see a take-charge kind of action heroine, but as Loulou, Meriel is stuck with a kind of grim determination throughout the movie which wears thin by the end.

The plot is messy, with the "AAU" subplot taking over the main plot very quickly, but unsatisfactorily resolved (how easy was it for them to find the bomb? ). The beginning and the end are this movie's weakest points, with the beginning conveying no sense of reality for the Alfred-Anna relationship (so the boys' mad dash to make the delivery has a pretty low emotional stake). There's so much sterility and so little screen time between Fedja van Huet (a bumbling, acceptable performance as Alfred) and Esmee de la Bretonniere (completely colourless, with about 20 lines in the whole movie) that we hardly care whether anything happens to Anna. It's also in the beginning when Reine's music-video stylings run wild, unengaging burps trying to be cool editing but only coming off as cinematic incompetence. However, the middle picks up steam when sexual tension between Meriel and Douglas begins to mount, and when the sense of danger builds to a good level. The ending is a cheap cop-out, however -- won't give it away here, but rest assured, it's as "easy" as they come, hugely unsatisfying.

So this movie has a pretty big share of problems. However, at least it kept me watching until the end, and most of the action sequences (when Reine doesn't try out his hackneyed slow-mo, jump-cutting, manic-movement techniques) are pretty gripping. And some small moments -- the two guys and a girl's teasing lakeside bath, Guy and Alfred's on-the-grovel second fight -- are actually very enjoyable.

People get in a car, drive around and raise hell. It's a formula that's been done well (a few Australian movies and Bruce McDonald's "Highway 61" spring to mind), but never better than this sexy, imaginative and amusing ride through the Euro-trash high life.

A male point of view flick with plenty of chases, twists and action. This isn't "War and Peace" so sit back and enjoy all the characters in this buddy movie that goes seriously awry. There are some flaws with the plot (as in unbelieveable situations) but hey, it's pure escapism and a lot of fun to watch. These two buddies and the wife of one of them end up in a bad situation on the road in europe and need some cash, fast. The wife knows this guy who can hook them up as long as they make this delivery and oh, this contact adds a nasty condition to the "delivery" job. Needless to say you know things are not going to go well. As they are racing around hitting all the contact points on their delivery, a volkswagon beetle falls off a bridge and lands in front of them. One guy walks out slightly injured and a woman appears to be perfectly fine. Stretch your imagination and just go with it - appreciate the great visuals and plot twist. These people are part of the Association Against European Unitification. Peaceful means have not made their point and the AEU opts for violence. Plenty of violence. An interpol agent is hot on their trail as the two buddies get caught up in this mess as they try to meet their delivery deadlines. There are so many subplots that make the movie speed along with the characters that it was pure fun to watch. All the european stereotypes were intereting to watch and the accents were fun as well. To enjoy all of the jokes you need to have the subtitles turned on as it doesn't provide them when characters speak in a foreign language. Definitely not going to win any acclaimed awards but a great way to spend 92 out of the 99 minutes (the ending was too hollywood which was funny since it isn't an american film). It kept me entertained and ain't that the point of movies? But I have to say that it does not stand up well to repeated viewings. A warning to some, the dialogue is chock full of the "F" word and contains some nudity with a twist that make those scenes memorable.

The plot is unbelievable, the characters unrealistic; right down to phony accents. Dont waste your time watching this.