Everybody's Famous! (2000)

Typically Flemish, hilarious, well done.

Everybody's Famous is an entertaining film with a cute plot that will make you laugh. All the more better if you have spent some time in Belgium as many of the scenes and humor are typically Flemish and will then hit you harder. Only in Belgium would you see a kidnapper making fresh soup for his victims! A must see. July 11, 2006

Everybody's Famous

I rented this movie the other night, and I wasn't sure if it'd like it, being that it's a foreign flim. I thought it might be hard to understand and very boring. But I couldn't have been more wrong. The only real reason I picked it up was because of it's Oscar nomination, and I'm glad I did. It wasn't hard to understand at all and wasn't the little bit boring. The story is about a loving father would is desperate to do to anything to make his daughter a star. Including kidnapping the country's most popular singer. And what are his demands? Making the singer's producer make a hit song for his daughter. The story is adorable and humorous, and I recommend it to everybody. September 1, 2004

Everybody's Entertained

"Everybody's Famous" is one of the best films released in 2000. It rightfully earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film(Belgium). Its plot is highly catchy and funny. Its highly creative scenes keep everyone's interest the whole time. Its plot about a father, whose family is in poverty, who will do anything to make his daughter famous keeps everyone's eyes wide open, especially while he's taking action. The plot of the #1 singing sensation's kidnapping builds to a fine climax and conlusion. In average movies, such chain of events would never work. The writer's brilliance makes every scene fit as one movie. The acting is wonderful. Everyone offers their own humor and seriousness in the right times. The song "Lucky Manuelo" has a great unforgettable rhythm that should have become a hit in real life. "Everybody's Famous" is a great comedy for those looking for something unique. This will please many during and after viewing. December 2, 2003

Charming movie about following that dream

In looking at the blue-haired Debbie on the cover, one might think, "Oh great, a bimbo picture for teenagers and young people." Think again--this is a quirky but refreshing feature from Belgium, set in Flanders. And by the way, Debbie's actually a stunning brunette with a great personality.

As for our cover girl, that's Debbie, the #1 pop sensation who's sold more records than the Beatles, Elvis, and Michael Jackson combined. Yet she seems more interested in car mechanics rather than singing, much to the chagrin of her promoter Michael.

Jean Vereecken, a worker at a bottle factory in his mid-forties, has dreams of becoming a songwriter, and thinks his daughter Marva is a talented singer. He writes songs for her but his efforts are underappreciated by his down-to-earth wife Chantal and totally unappreciated by Marva, who is irritated. Part of that comes from a lack of confidence. She is nineteen, a bit on the portly side, isn't exactly fashion model pretty, and doesn't have much of a life. Consequently, she gets low marks at the lookalike singing contests.

A crisis comes when the bottle factory goes bankrupt and all the workers get the sack. What to do? Jean's unemployment will cause him to lose more face in the eyes of his family. Jean's younger co-worker Willy, is financially supporting his girlfriend Liz, who is going to college. Any genuine feelings towards him are conspicuous by their absence. His unemployment means Liz will have to pay her own way, and that's the last thing he wants.

It's only when Debbie meets the downtrodden Jean that things begin to click a notch, and sets into motion a hairbrained scheme that draws in Willy and Michael.

Of the stars, Josse de Pauw succeeds as Jean, trying so hard, maybe too hard to please his daughter and gain her love at whatever cost. His singing attempts are clumsy but given his enthusiasm and joy at finding what he thinks is a winner is so encouraging. And if genuinely pretty and pleasant women--as opposed to fashion-model pretty--like Thekla Reuten (Debbie) were in plenty supply, this world would be a better place.

Victor Low (Michael) does a great job as a savvy businessman who's a master at artist promotion and publicity gimmicks. And Werner de Smedt plays Willy as someone who's actually sensitive and that part of him is drawn out later involving Jean's scheme.

The homages to 80's music was fun for me, as well as the lookalike contests. And there's a funny bit involving (kind of) Michael Jackson. The songs done here (not by the original artists) are Vanessa Paradis's "Be My Baby," Queen's "I Want To Break Free," and Madonna's "Material Girl."

As for the title, it's a reference to why everybody wants to be famous. Yes, it is to escape an ordinary life, but what is the result? Part of the answer comes from Debbie and involves talent. She is talented, therefore she didn't have to sleep with any managers to get to the top. And for those real-life girl singers today and yesterday who weren't talented but made it to the top? I wonder how many of those there are.

An entertaining comedy-drama that also explores the importance of being what one wants to be in one's heart, but also fighting the odds to discover that one precious dream, trying to rise above an anonymous crowd. Jean, Marva, and Debbie do just that in this charming movie. June 15, 2003

A Belgian Oddball Comedy/Drama about a Father and a Daughter

One of the nominees at the Academy Award for Best Foreigen Film category, "Everybody's Famous" gathered considerable attention of critics, but at the same time divided their opinions. That is only natural because this Beligian film is too light-weight and predictable for all its charms and sentiments. So, which side you take totally depends on your feelings.

The story is reminiscent of the underrated Robert DeNiro - Jerry Lewis comedy satire, "The King of Comedy." A Belgian father working for a bottle factory is desperate to make his 17 year-old daughter a star. But as the terrible performance at local talent show testifies, she is no talent (but she seems to have some potential, since she can really sing at a puppet show, without showing herself up before the audience). One day, however, an incredible chance visits him. He finds a super-star singer Debbie riding a bycicle alone on the road, and inspite of his better judgement, he kiddnaps her, to threaten the producer into making the much-coveted TV debut for his beloved daughter.

After these initial events, there are some plot twists leading up to the final moment. I don't know how Belgian people reacted to the film, but I, being a Japanese, found the Flemish humors (if there are) very strange and unique. Of course, that depends on you and your culture, but maybe, I am afraid, during the process of translation we have lost many things. I suspect that, whatever the reason may be, it is nearly impossible for most of English-speaking viewers to seek for the kind of laughs you find in regular Hollywood outings.

But you still can enjoy the film as it is, and the father's love for his daughter is a universal theme, which is possibly the best thing of "Everybody's Famous." The last sequence is certainly heart-warming, but I still am not sure whether I really appreciated the film in the right way. That is because the film's satires on show biz world and craze for 15 minutes celebrity are, for me, are too self-evident these days when we have so many "reality TVs" and instant celebrities around us. If only the director developed the initial premise, that's how I thought.

The father is played effectively by Josse De Pauw, and also good is Debbie played by Thekla Reuten (if you are looking at a mysterious blue-haired girl on DVD jacket, that is her). But the father's daughter, key character of the film, is played by a newcomer (auditioned for the role, I read) Eva Van der Gucht, who clearly needs more training as a professional. She is no Toni Colette, who could have easily raised the credibility of the film several notches higher. December 24, 2002

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