I watched this movie on an online streaming service which is apparently a different experience than watching it on DVD. This version is over 90 minutes long and has what I'm assuming is the DVD "making of" featurette, which is about 45 minutes long, attached to the front of it. While in theory I'm all for DVD extras, I rarely actually enjoy them. But given the unusual circumstances behind this movie, the featurette was actually interesting. Verhoeven started with just 5 pages of script and tried to crowdsource the writing of the rest of it. Naturally, this lead to problems, and his struggles to get the film finished made for an interesting story in itself, and I imagine the details would be informative viewing for movie fans and for anyone who wants to make movies themselves.
And how was the movie itself? Better than it had any right to be, but nothing particularly exceptional. The story involves the birthday celebration of a married businessman and the events triggered when his pregnant ex-lover shows up unexpectedly. The story isn't bad but it never escapes the feeling of being a light-hearted soap opera. The performances are good but the script never gets particularly compelling and the whole thing feels inconsequential. Anyone who didn't know the back story of the movie or who wasn't a fan of the director would probably never bother with it.
And how was the movie itself? Better than it had any right to be, but nothing particularly exceptional. The story involves the birthday celebration of a married businessman and the events triggered when his pregnant ex-lover shows up unexpectedly. The story isn't bad but it never escapes the feeling of being a light-hearted soap opera. The performances are good but the script never gets particularly compelling and the whole thing feels inconsequential. Anyone who didn't know the back story of the movie or who wasn't a fan of the director would probably never bother with it.