Paul Allaer "The Ardennes" (2015 release from Belgium; 96 min.) brings the story of brothers Dave and Kenny. As the movie opens, Dave is seen scrambling and driving off madly with a woman, while Kenny is not so lucky, and gets arrested. In a quick montage, Kenny is sentenced to 7 years in jail, his girlfriend Sylvie attends AA/NA meetings and is now 2 years clean, and Dave is working at a carwash. Then after 4 years, Kenny is released, and Dave picks him up. Kenny is disappointed that Sylvie isn't there to meet him, but we in the meantime know that Sylvie is now with Dave, and pregnant (all unbeknownst to Kenny). At his mom's urging, Dave is able to get Kenny a job at the car wash. Will Kenny find out about Dave and Sylvie? Will Kenny remain on the straight-and-narrow? At this point we are a good 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more pf the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.Couple of comments: in the initial opening credits, the movie is announced as "Belgian cinema from Flanders" (which is the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium). In fact, the movie is set in and around Antwerp, my original home town, and all of the characters speak with a pronounced Antwerp dialect accent. Writer-director Robin Pront previously was the producer of the Oscar-nominated "Bullhead". Here he explores another crime drama, and along with it a complicated relationship between 2 brothers. The movie is highly stylish in both its photography and camera angles, adding to the overall sense of dread that something very bad may be going down. Veerle Batens as Sylvie delivers yet another top-notch performance, as does Jeroen perceval as Dave. But the intense performance of Kevin Janssens as the unstable Kenny is what really lifts this movie. Last but certainly not least, there is an outstanding electronic score, courtesy of Flemish composer Hendrik Willemyns, whom I had never heard of before. Bottom line, this is a dark crime drama which I ended up enjoying a lot more than I expected. Incidentally, this was Belgium's official entry for the 2017 Best Foreign Language Movie Oscar (it was not nominated).While "The Ardennes" played at a number of film festivals (it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival) and was officially released in the US in early 2017, it really wasn't until Film Movement released it as part of its Movie of the Month releases that this gained a wider audience. This is how I finally was able to see it. So glad I did (and not just because I originally hail from Belgium). If you are in the mood for a dark crime drama, I'd readily recommend you check this out and draw your own conclusion. I think you will be quite pleased. "The Ardennes" is a WINNER.

Raven-1969 Kenny does not believe in change. Four years in prison and he is the same as the day he walked in. Kenny expects no one and nothing else will change either. He is in for some rude surprises. To begin with Sylvie, Kenny's girlfriend, is not at the prison gate to greet him. Beneath a highway bridge, a fight in the middle of a car wash, in multi-level concrete housing projects, the flashing lights of a dance club, the misty Ardennes forest and the underworld of Belgium, the new order of things is revealed to a stubborn and disbelieving Kenny. Yet no one, however tender hearted or tough, seems to be able to get the message home to Kenny. He won't take "no" for an answer. Do beliefs bring about reality, or is it the other way around?Brotherly tensions figure prominently in the story. Kenny's brother Dave is introverted, easy-going and attempting to escape the darkness of his ardent and forceful brother's shadow. The film dialogue is intriguing, delightful and balanced. "Every time I see you I think of all the bad decisions I made in my life," Sylvie tells Kenny. She is just as hard on Dave. Tired of waiting for Dave to tell the truth to Kenny, Sylvie takes matters into her own hands. "Someone had to say something," says Sylvie. "What do you know about the truth?" Kenny asks Dave, "you think you're better than me?" "I'm different," answers Dave "it is not possible to talk to you, I tried all my life." "When you're intelligent," a prisoner says, "they take you for dangerous." Isn't that the truth?! I love the diverse, colorful and interesting settings including a tanning booth, underwater, the dance club and especially the car wash fight scene (I wish it was longer). The plot, wonderfully, kept me guessing. The acting is a little shaky at times yet entirely believable.Ending details may sometimes be revealed without ruining the plot. The specifics added often make it more difficult to figure out the ending. Such is the case here. Ostriches are involved. Good luck figuring that one out! The Ardennes is recently available through Netflix (snail mail).

Jerghal This film reminds me why I used to hate Flemish films so much. The last couple of years we had some good ones thanks to Felix Van Groeningen and others. Those movies were either in West-Flemish or East-Flemish and had very likable characters and great stories. D'Ardennen on the other hand is in sucky Antwerps and is one of those stories with miserable low-life characters. Kevin Janssens (he's annoying as hell), Veerle Baetens and Jeroen Perceval play these 'Johnny and Marina' kinda types which I loathe so it's almost impossible to care for them - let alone stand them. The titular 'Ardennes' are only featured almost an hour into the flick and it only lasts 93 minutes (incl credits). I can't recommend this film at all. I was thinking it would be a cool Flemish take on the cabin horror movies maybe, but it's nothing of the sort. Just skip this crap and watch Belgica, that one was cool and fun!

Reno Rangan The Dutch crime-drama about two brothers, especially the plot revolves as a love triangle, but it is not a romance movie. The movie opened in the middle of some crime scene which is never going to be revealed what actually happened, because it wasn't important as the film's narration is something else. What comes later is the twist in the character's relationship with each other, especially between two brothers and a woman they're in love.The actual story begins a few years later to that opening incident. Looks everything has changed at that point, except one of the brother who just stepped outside the prison. The remaining is all about the condition of the family and the romance relationship that appears to be complicated to explain to one another. When it begins to unfold, the final twist strikes which bring further complexity to the conclusion section.Frankly, I did not like the first two acts. Actually, I expected it to be a crime story. With two tough characters the scenes did not create enough curiosity or the thrilling moments. But the third act is where the movie changed its pace as well as genre to what I was eagerly waiting for. Because of the decent developments in the earlier, this ending was so exciting. But overall product is just above average. That means it is not a bad flick, yet everyone's not going to like it.6/10