SYNOPSICS
Rent a Friend (2000) is a Dutch movie. Eddy Terstall has directed this movie. Marc van Uchelen,Rifka Lodeizen,Nadja Hüpscher,Natasja Loturco are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2000. Rent a Friend (2000) is considered one of the best Comedy,Romance movie in India and around the world.
In Rent a Friend the talented painter ARTHUR is suffering from an artist's block. Alfred does not bother about becoming rich and famous. He sticks to painting bright coloured Mexican hats. Alfred's total lack of ambition increasingly irritates his girlfriend MONIEK. Moniek is a successful writer of a popular Dutch soap opera and she is continuously accusing Alfred of having no commercial instinct. The soap episodes created by Moniek are totally based on her own life. When Alfred sees one of the episodes, he correctly infers that she is having an affair with the executive producer. He decides to leave Moniek and sets out to show the world that he doesn't have a problem with making money. He starts a company called Rent a Friend and rents himself out as a friend to those in need of one. The concept is so successful that he soon is running a veritable "friends empire". Things really take off when Alfred hires the highly inventive manager Françoise. Moniek, by this time, is lonely and ...
Same Actors
Same Director
Rent a Friend (2000) Reviews
I recommend it. Even if it is on video.
Am I really the first, and so far only person to comment on this film? This only goes to show how unjustly ignored (by the public, not the press) this film is/was. The idea on which Rent-a-friend is based is brilliant. Haven't we all at one time or another longed for a friend to suit our every (non-sexual) need? Yes, the acting is at times somewhat wooden, but that only adds to the whole comedic situation in my opinion. Yes, the dialogues are cheesy, sometimes verging on the ridiculous, but I would only describe that as being 'camp' rather than bad writing. The situations in which friend Alfred finds himself are often hilarious. (Or is it that only a Dutch person can laugh about a man seeking a friend to watch German soccer with?). The whole development of Alfred's ploy to make money to impress Moniek into a multi national operation is still believable, and like I said before, funny. And funny is what a comedy should be. Rent a friend is lighthearted, a bit over the top, but certainly not worse than a lot of so called comedies we get to see most of the time. I recommend it. Even if it is on video, because the film has long left the theatres.
A romantic comedy about money
This is a pretty hilarious film that failed to get the audience it deserved in Holland or abroad. Underdog painter Alfred (Marc van Uchelen) is stuck in a relationship with soap opera writer girlfriend Moniek (Rifka Lodeizen), who does not find his oddball paintings of Mexican riddles amusing any longer. Snippets from this soap opera (acted hilariously badly - think "Boogie Nights") run parallel to their lives. When Moniek has an affair with her boss, poor Alfred finds out through watching the telly! Fed up, he moves to his sister's house and decides to go into business by offering himself for hire as a "friend". This leads to a string of sketches that involve some pretty weird negotiations about the etiquette of professional friendship with an excellent cast of Dutch comedians playing the role of customer. Business booms and Alfred soon finds himself at the head of a company called "Rent-a-Friend". He is joined by a determined young woman (Nadja Hüpscher, omnipresent in Terstall movies) with a Japanese fetish and a fetchingly broad Rotterdam accent. While the company continues to expand in surprising ways, Alfred's personal life also swings up. To complement an already very funny, if slightly episodic movie, the art direction places the story in an unfamiliar, slightly futuristic Holland that doesn't really exist - yet. It goes very well with the deadpan dialogue and the cheerful soundtrack. There are persistent rumours of an American remake, but I seriously doubt whether this can be topped.
Funniest Dutch movie in years!!!
After having seen Rent-a-Friend for the first time (at the Rotterdam Film Festival), the smile at my face didn't disappear for hours. THIS MOVIE IS REALLY FUNNY!!! And there aren't lots of FUNNY Dutch films (except 'Flodder' and 'Abel' (both 1986) or perhaps Terstall's previous movie, 'Based on a Novel'). And wasn't a comedy -first of all- supposed to be funny? Of course, Terstalls films all have certain things in common. For example, they are -like a cabaret show- more based on fragements and funny scenes than at a great story. The same in Rent-a-Friend. BUT in this film it doesn't matter, because the basic idea (friendship for sale) is simply brilliant.
A ridiculously true portrayal of yearnings for friendship
In this age where people live mostly in isolation emotionally, there really is the yearn for a friend in need from the bottom of most people's hearts. This movie starts off in a seemingly ridiculous way, but in the end you'd think, hey, I'd like to rent a friend some time... I'd definitely recommend this video -- it's dazzling funny with substance.
Great Dutch Comedy
I saw this movie by chance in a film festival in Buenos Aires, not knowing anything about the director, or what the film was about. This great dutch comedy is about a man around thirty, not particularly satisfied about where his life is going, who makes a living writing crummy scripts for a soap opera. She has problems with his girlfriend, who eventually lefts him. After that, he seems to think it's about time to restart his life, and starts a new business called Rent a Friend. This provides friends for people for a fee. I'm not sure this is an idea I like, the commercialization of friendship. If one thinks about it, it's a pretty dreadful idea, but the director doesn't make a lot out of this. Anyway. in this new business, he meets a wonderful coworker, played by Nadja Hupscher. I don't know anything about her, except that she gives a completely lovely performance. Summing up, this is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. It is a pity that the director, Eddy Terstall is not better known (at least, outside Holland). I really look forward to see other films by him.