Written by Gerard Soeteman and Paul Verhoeven, directed by Verhoeven. With Carice van Houten, Sebastian Koch and Thom Hoffman. In Dutch, German and Hebrew, with subtitles. Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics. 2 hours, 25 mins. R (violence, sex, nudity, profanity, the Holocaust, adult themes). Playing at the Ritz Five and Ritz Sixteen/NJ.
Returning to the Netherlands for his first film since 1983's The Fourth Man, Paul Verhoeven brings much of what he plied in Hollywood to a tale of Nazis, Jews and the Dutch resistance. Namely, the director of Basic Instinct and Starship Troopers brings over-the-top sex and action to the proceedings, turning this World War II thriller into an enjoyable, though wildly incredible, cloak-and-dagger caper.
