In the conflict comedy Casa Coco, a group of Rotterdammers go on holiday in Bonaire to relax. This makes for a predictable film full of arguments and misunderstandings.
It’s us knows us in Casa Coco . The hotel on Bonaire van Pleun (Joke Bruijs) is the regular holiday spot for a group of friends from Rotterdam. But when Pleun’s friends take the recently divorced Toon (Gerard Cox) on vacation, one of those familiar faces seems just too familiar. Toon and Pleun were once engaged, it soon turns out, until Pleun fled to Bonaire. There is, of course, more to that.
The relationship between Pleun and Toon is the common thread through Dutch comedy Casa Coco . Their storyline is complemented by other little mystery on all sides. Such as the illness of regular guest Johan (the late Gijs de Lange), the secret plans of the new manager and the bickering of the regular guests and hotel employees.
This is all unsurprisingly. Casa Coco wants to get as much conflict as possible on the table as quickly as possible. The many quarrels, in which two people scold each other, have to be funny and recognizable, but the constant yelling quickly gets boring.
Casa Coco is a quirky conflict comedy full of typical observations about Dutch culture. The Dutch only eat frikadellen, even on holiday – that caliber.
That commitment to recognizability in the script leads to downright horrible one-liners. Sentences like “That has a name, it’s called love” should be deep and sentences like “That’s called autism, those unsociable people” should be funny. When this is vacation, there’s a lot to be said for staying at home.
Movie : Casa Coco
Direction : Bob Wilbers
Of : Joke Bruijs, Gerard Cox, Richard Groenendijk, Loes Luca, Katja Schuurman
To see : Kolk, Assen; Bios, Drachten; Kinepolis Emmen; Kinepolis and Pathé Groningen; Bios, Heerenveen; Vue Hoogeveen; Vue Hoogezand; Astra, Klazienaveen; Pathé Leeuwarden; Luxor, Meppel; Cine Sneek