The Misfortunates The Misfortunates

The Misfortunates (Dutch: De helaasheid der dingen) is a 2009 Belgian comedy-drama film from director Felix Van Groeningen, adapted from the book De helaasheid der dingen by Belgian writer Dimitri Verhulst. The film stars Koen De Graeve, Johan Heldenbergh, Wouter Hendrickx, Bert Haelvoet, Valentijn Dhaenens, Kenneth Vanbaeden and Gilda De Bal.

Kenneth Vanbaeden Valentijn Dhaenens Koen De Graeve Wouter Hendrickx Johan Heldenbergh Bert Haelvoet Gilda De Bal

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foreign comedy drama

108 mins   More details at IMDb / TMDb

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  • José Rebelo

    Review by José Rebelo ★★★½

    Seen at 29. Festroia - International Film Festival Setúbal, Portugal.

    The Misfortunates was a heartwarming funny film about a disfunctional family.
    With a great role of actors, Felix Van Groeningen made me purely laugh and feel somehow sad. To be honest, wasn't expecting a film this good.

  • Tom Torbeyns

    Review by Tom Torbeyns ★★★

    Het boek was beter

  • Robert Fuller

    Review by Robert Fuller ★★★½

    Starts out as a comedy about men behaving badly, then gradually grows more serious, as the kid who has to share a house with these men realizes it's maybe not such a great lifestyle after all. Leans a little too heavily on the pathos for my taste -- I actually didn't feel that bad for the kid -- and it runs a bit long, but by the end the point is made fairly cogently, with an almost Dardenne-like grace (and Jeremie Renier would have fit comfortably into the role of the adult Gunther, had it been set in a French-speaking part of Belgium). Quite a different, and better, movie than I was expecting.

  • Onnib

    Review by Onnib ★★★

    A tragic story about a boy growing up in a bad environment switching between his life then and his life as a grown up. Amongst the agony are some lighthearted moments. It was convincingly done, it seems Dutch actors can learn some lessons from their Belgian neighbors. It was a good watch.

  • Lennart Schoors

    Review by Lennart Schoors ★★½

    Marginaal, marginaler, marginAalst.

  • Tachyon

    Review by Tachyon ★★★★

    Gunther, a failing writer, looks back to past, when he was 13 and living at his grandmother's house with his father and his 3 brothers in Reetveerdem.
    The 4 brothers all have lost in life and returned to their mothers house, for a life of heavy drinking, fighting and loitering. Gunther narrates us through several events, an attempt to break the world record for drinking, a naked bike race and other activities larded with beer.
    In an attempt to explain his current state of mind, Gunther tries to look into the past when he needs to deal with his pregnant girlfriend.

    An oddball of a movie, there is no way to identify with Gunther and his family. But when you…

  • Bjorns

    Review by Bjorns ★★★★½

    De helaasheid der dingen. This is a must see movie. Absolutly briliant

  • Horcruxnelius Doubleboss

    Review by Horcruxnelius Doubleboss ★★★

    too redundant