The Heineken Kidnapping (2011) User Reviews (14)

The Heineken kidnapping

[Laakbaar · 8/10 · 27 April 2012]

Freddy Heineken was with his namesake company for almost 50 years, eventually becoming the president. He was the driving force behind Heineken becoming an international brand. He married Lucille Cummins, an American from a bourbon family. He was at the pinnacle of Dutch corporate life.

In 1983, six years before retirement, he and his chauffeur Ab Doderer were kidnapped and held for ransom by a gang of Amsterdam petty criminals: Cor van Hout, Willem Holleeder, Jan Boelaard, Frans Meijer and Martin Erkamps. They demanded and were paid a ransom of 35 million guilders. They successfully escaped to France, where they were eventually caught and extradited back to the Netherlands to do time. Some of the money was never found. Meijer escaped for a while to Paraguay, but he too was caught eventually.

Holleeder served his time and was released in 1992. (Hey, this is the Netherlands.) He emerged wealthy and well connected in the Dutch underworld and was later convicted of another famous crime. In the eyes of the Dutch media he has become notorious, the country's best known criminal.

Dutch director Maarten Treurniet has made a film about this very famous crime. However, like in most Dutch historical movies, telling a good story is paramount, so the film is deliberately not quite historically accurate. For example, Heineken's wife is portrayed as Dutch. Holleeder and others have complained about the inaccuracies in the film, Holleeder even litigating from prison to object at how he was portrayed and the inaccurate details. Holleeder has been renamed "Rem" in the film.

Even if the story wasn't totally accurate, it brought the whole affair to life for me. I thought it was a good film. The story, pace, acting, technical aspects all worked well. The melodrama you often see in Dutch movies was toned down.

The movie hinged on the personal relationship between Heineken and Holl..., er, Rem. Civilisation is a thin veneer. None of us, even the rich, are ever that far away from the Darwinian world of the schoolyard. The movie Heineken doesn't take kindly to being terrorised by Rem, but Rem understands the impact of physical violence. The movie unexpectedly humanised Holleeder for me, at one point trying to show that bad boy Rem himself was the victim of circumstances.

Rutger Hauer's performance was superb: he WAS Freddy Heineken. Reinout Scholten van Aschat (who really looks like the young Holleeder) brought the character to life. He projected both the physical magnetism and mean spirit of the narcissistic bully.

I enjoyed this movie for what it was. For me, it was one of the best Dutch movies in a while, and still is. I recommend this film.

A mixture of "Amsterdamish" humor and action

[BvH_NL · 7/10 · 6 November 2011]

First of all, in Holland there was much controversy around this movie. Crime-journalist Peter R. de Vries - author of the book "De Heineken Ontvoering" - did not sell the rights of his non-fictive story to director Maarten Treurniet and was criticizing that the movie was too fictional. Also criminal Willem Holleeder (Rem Hubrechts in the movie) who is currently serving a nine year sentence for extortion and involvement in the murder of a Yugoslav drugs-dealer filed a law suit against Maarten Treurniet for portraying him as a "maniac" in the movie. The law suit he evidently lost.

This served great as free promotion for the movie and the cinema was packed when I entered.

I must say, I was not disappointed at all. The acting is really good - except for Heineken's wife played by Truus te Selle who was not convincing and overacted at times. The two standouts were Rutger Hauer (Heineken) and Reinout Scholten van Aschat (Rem Humbrechts / Holleeder). They both delivered stunning performances and doing so carried the movie.

Not all positive though. Some scenes could have been much better, the "terror" caused by Humbrechts to Heineken was not well done.. Also it felt like it missed some scenes - the chauffeur of Heineken who was also held captive was hardly in the movie. And the way the police solved the kidnapping was not clear to me which is pretty crucial. Tracing down of the kidnappers felt a little bit rushed especially that of Jan Boelaard and Frans Meijer.

Said all that.. The movie was really fun to watch, especially the acting performances and the mixture of typical "Amsterdamish" humor with some good action. I'd recommend it to anyone (above 14 y/o orso) and it continues the positive trend of dutch quality movies.

I'd give it an overall rating of 7,2.

Pretty good...

[Evil_Fred · 7/10 · 3 November 2011]

For a dutch film, this is a must see. The aging icon of dutch cinema, rutger hauer, gives another solid performance. This movie was pretty good n all, but still some things wrong with it, mostly the pacing... acting,scripting, suspense building, all top notch. The cinematography is good,and the music makes a good atmosphere. But from time to time i was still looking at my watch... scenes are drawn out too long and the interesting bits are unfortunately, infrequent. Overall a decent attempt with a good outcome of a film.

Enjoy -

The_evil_fred

Reliving

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 14 December 2015]

Having watched the American version of the same incident, it is tough to say which one you should prefer. Obviously both have their limitations, but also strong points. It's the same story, but the weight lies on different things with those movies. While this feels more like a cold, going through what happened movie, the American version was a bit flashier.

This also relies even more on Heineken himself (the character/personal life) and the aftermath, which was handled fairly quickly in the US version. So both can be watched under different aspects and sort of work as companion pieces.

semi-real story

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 29 January 2017]

Rem Hubrechts' family is struggling after the Heineken plant closing. He blames his father's deteriorating health on the company. After a run-in with Freddy Heineken (Rutger Hauer), he recruits his brother-in-law Cor van Hout with his friends to execute their kidnapping plans on the brewery tycoon. The second half of the movie chronicles their escape after getting the ransom. Freddy hounds the four kidnappers across the globe.

The movie is altered from the true story. Rem's story is too convenient. His personality change is jarring. It's relying too much on his hatred as a reason. The way to make it work is to have an underlying personality flaw for Rem. The second half could have been more compelling if Rutger Hauer's powerful persona is released. He's turned into a wimp and it's not as compelling. There is a lack of intensity due to the pacing. The real story has good potential but this is unable to harness it fully.

Long, but well-acted, fast-paced, and terrific ending

[M0E-M0E · 7/10 · 14 July 2022]

This is really a tale of two movies: the first half and the second half. The first half focuses on character development instead of the finer details of the negotiation and any dealings with the Heineken family. A better mixture would've really improved the film. However, the second half of the film is just wonderful! Rutger Hauer is featured much more prominently and absolutely dominates every seen he's in. His performance was powerful! The second half (basically everything after the release of Heineken) is fast-paced, well-written, and superbly acted. It's also clever and fascinating. So if you can get through the first hour or so of the film, you'll love the eventual payoff. Overall a great film with good acting and story-telling throughout. Only one little gripe: the film never says what happened to Frans!

Pacing and script ruined this movie

[peterdevries · 4/10 · 31 December 2011]

The producers of this movie stressed that this movie was not strictly based on the book by Peter R. de Vries, the crime reporter. This book is (claimed to be) an accurate account of what the planning, kidnapping and aftermath actually was like. One of the greatest features of that book is the planning stage, which was incredibly meticulous and exciting.

The producers decided to go their own way, but made a critical error. They assume that people know the story, and subsequently leave out key parts of the narrative. This leaves the audience guessing at times what is actually happening. The planning stage is almost completely skipped with the kidnapping taking place in the first 10 minutes of the movie. A bit later there is a scene where the kidnappers are waiting for a ransom money transfer but this goes awry. The problem is that it is not explained that this is a ransom transfer attempt, and uninformed people that are not familiar with the actual kidnapping do not have a clue what is going on.

So the producers decide to NOT base the movie on the book, but trust that the plot is explained by the knowledge people have of the book. It's easy to see that this will not work, and so it doesn't.

Pacing is also a problem as scenes seem to drag on forever and overall atmosphere is very negative and pressing. It seems like there is a fire burning underneath the movie and pressure is building, but it is never released soon enough to be a pay off for the audience.

Acting is quite good, but the script and wooden dialogue aren't doing the actors much favor. Hauer as Heineken is a good fit, as is the main character who is a dead ringer for Willem Holleeder.

It was a mistake to make a movie about a topic so famous that (almost) everyone knows the complete story and subsequently twist the story in the extent that they did. I almost wish Peter R. de Vries will go through with a script more strictly based on his book.

Well done!

[john-190-705889 · 9/10 · 19 October 2011]

Well done for bringing these talents together. Rem annex Holleeder is a great invention and makes the movie worth seeing. I also liked Heinekens wife a lot. What is great that the film also brings some humor to it. Before the premiere I was a bit skeptical but it worked out really well. I loved all the scenery. Great locations. I waited almost 30 years for this film. It was worth waiting for it. I think it must have been difficult to leave some details out. Something I was surprised of is that they put emphasis on Heineken personal life. They literally brought two worlds (gangsters and Heineken) together in their private world, which makes it interesting and not to factual.

Not worth the watch

[harmvanderhoff · 3/10 · 14 March 2012]

Going on the knowlegde of the original story I was looking forward watching this. But what a disappointment. This might possible be one of the worst Dutch productions of the last years. No suspense, rushing plot line, bad acting, bad cinemography. The only highlight was seeing Hauer in action again.

Especially in the middle part where there was opportunity for some suspense and story building, the movie seemed to speed up like crazy. Therefor the moment between ransom and captioning the bad guys was ridiculously fast paced.

I struggled through the last hour to even finish it. 2 hours of my life I'm not getting back :)

The Heineken Kidnapping...... It tastes a lot better then the movie

[mjprijden · 1/10 · 3 November 2011]

After reading some books and seeing a lot of TV docs about the kidnapping i went to the cinema with a high expectation about this movie. I thought i was in the wrong cinema room. Perhaps 10% of the movies contains facts about the kidnapping. The 90% left is like a cheap local TV show. When the main character imitates a piece of Tony Montana it was like he was acting his first time.

Maybe the movie was worth a 6 for a Dutch low budget movie but because of the bad acting and by not telling the true story i only give it 3 out of 10.

Dutch movies like De Dominee are much better!

Very strong acting and good action

[LennyOO · 8/10 · 12 November 2011]

Being someone from the Netherlands, I've seen probably a lot more Dutch movies than the average non-Dutch person. I also know that the average quality of these movies isn't very high (not to bash the efforts, but many Dutch films are quite flat). There are of course some exceptions, but altogether it results in being skeptic about every Dutch movie before I see it. However, this should not prevent me from actually seeing them without any biased feelings beforehand. I went to see this film yesterday night with a friend of mine. A movie that stars Rutger Hauer, whom I see as the best Dutch actor, is very interesting. Even more so when he has picked up the role of Freddy Heineken, one of the most iconic figures in the (Dutch) beer industry on the planet. The abduction of Freddy Heineken was in 1983, 10 years before I was born, so I must add that I really missed the cultural impact it made.

The review itself. This movie does not feature a fully nonfictional version of the story, nor does it claim to do so. It is clearly stated that the facts and additional dramatic elements are mixed together, which results in this film.

I must say, one of the greatest elements of the film is the variety of tension and ease. Scenes that feature the abduction crew tend to be very hasty and feature a lot of action, while the older Mr. Heineken provides the audience with a much more calm impression. This split of perspective is very important for the film, because it also tries to emphasize on the lives of the members of the abduction crew: They are all poor lads caught in the crisis of the 80's and they disrespect any kind of authority. The main character in this perspective is the young Rem Humbrechts, who has yet to prove himself in the world of crime. Only of his life do we really get to see a lot: his father is an alcoholic, claiming to be so because he used to work for Heineken, and that he had to drink a lot. Rem wants to help his father, one of the main reasons to abduct Heineken for a lot of money (35 million Gulders). Abductors are mainly villains in black clothing, completely anonymous. That is little different here, but we also get to see the poor, struggling side of Rem, and how he was actually born a very kind lad.

The acting is very, very good. Rutger Hauer shows his experience and acting abilities once more as a very convincing Freddy Heineken, seeking revenge, seeking his captors to be put behind bars. But also he shows weakness, fear, as we can see in the many nightmares about the guy in black, similarly clothed as his captors, as this is all he knows of them. We see an old man's struggle to regain his normal life, yet having the fear that someone, somewhere, might be waiting to get him. The less well known Reinout Scholten van Aschat, who took up the role of Rem Humbrechts, shows quality in that he manages to grow with his character: In the beginning, he is but a greenhorn, he means naught. This changes later in the movie, as he planned the whole abduction and he gets credit for his work. He becomes a lot more remorseless and bitter, though eventually getting caught. This contrasts the other captors, who remain quite consistent in character, throughout the movie. They have rather flat personalities. Little do we know, or get to know of them. We do not need to though, it's not a problem.

Another strong element is that the movie is far from over even after the police have found Heineken. The story continues, justice must be dealt to the captors. Which turns out to be quite the challenge.

In short, this movie is a great exception of Dutch cinema. I really enjoyed watching this movie, it features some very grim and exciting action and Rutger Hauer shines like a bright star in a clear night sky. I can recommend this movie to everyone looking for a good action/thriller.

Decently told kidnapping story based on real life kidnapping of Alfred Heineken.

[cgvsluis · 5/10 · 19 July 2021]

This was a film I came to in a very circuitous route. There was a wonderful piece in The New Yorker in August 2018 entitled "How a Notorious Gangster was Exposed by His Own Sister" by Patrick Radden Keefe. It was about the events leading up to what was the biggest court case at the time and one that had the attention of all of the Netherlands. The article was so well written and interesting that I picked up Astrid Holleeder's book Judas while in Aruba (the translation to English is disappointing as it would have done better to have the story told by an actual writer/storyteller vs. Astrid herself. Also, Astrid seems to have no remorse for living off of the money begot from crime...making her a very unsympathetic character.) After reading the book and feeling very let down, particularly about details of the Heineken kidnapping, I sought out this film to watch.

Rutger Hauer does an excellent job playing the esteemed businessman Heineken, he had just the right amount of smart savvy that exposed the "criminal masterminds" for what they were...crazy and poorly coordinated. It is sad when there is so much work put in to ill begotten gains.

Decently told kidnapping story, worth watching, based on the real-life kidnapping of Freddie Heineken that was masterminded by the infamous Dutch gangster known as "De Neus".

Ongewoon goed

[toneelenfilm · 10/10 · 14 August 2021]

Many Dutch movies are recognizably that. Dutch film acting is alas often still of a lesser quality than that of British or American actors. In this film however the main characters are totally believavle. Rutger Hauer presents what is possibly his best performance ever, but Reinaut Scholten as the main focus within the criminal circle also never drops the ball.

The story is ofcourse firmly based on facts, some of which were not mentioned in the media at the time.

The story of the kidnapping of Freddy Heineken was also made into a television series, which excelled in choice of music, and takes the story beyond the release of Willem Holleeder.

Both are well worth watching.

Painful, great

[hoogmeulen-08540 · 8/10 · 16 December 2022]

Rutger Hauer in great shape, as he has but a few lines, as Alfred Heineken bullied by a young criminal, who in fact build a scary career afterwards. Story well told, much better than the English remake. Heineken never fully recovered, not all the money was traced. More interesting, I admit, once you know what happend afterwards. Not every kidnapper managed to grow old. The young criminals sister, a lawyer, later wrote a book on him, that shocked the a Dutch readers. On basis of her testimony, incl recorded phone calls, he was convicted. With Hauer on screen, there' s a strange effect, he draws your attention, even when he is silent. Sad he is no longer among us.