Description: |
The movie begins with Alfred Heineken explaining that he is the man who runs the company that makes Heineken beer, and then asking someone with a mask covering his face whether he was doing the right thing.In this fact-based movie set in 1982 Amsterdam, five well-dressed men enter a bank. Cor, Willem, Cat, Brakes and Spikes run a construction company, but due to the recession, they need a loan to keep their company going. However, the man at the bank wants to know what kind of collateral can be provided before he can give them a loan. They have sold nearly everything they could and are out of options. They do have a building where many of the tenants have not paid their rent. In order to use that building to get the loan, they have to evict everyone, so they go through the graffiti-covered hallways harassing everyone until the police show up.Because they can't convince the police they are the owners of the building, the men are thrown in jail. Only Cor manages to get bailed out because he did not resist arrest like the others. Cor goes home to find wife Sonja mad at him. Karen, who is taking care of their young child, won't say why. Finally, Sonja comes out to announce she is pregnant.Cor, Sonja and Willem spend New Year's Eve with Sonja and Willem's parents. The father reminds everyone that Heineken paid for the family to have everything they had, and the father still respects Alfred Heineken even though he fired the father.The men come up with the idea of kidnapping Heineken and collecting a ransom large enough that they will be richer than they ever imagined. But first they need to come up with an elaborate plan, and such a plan will still require money. The men put on Halloween type masks and return to the bank, this time to rob it. They don't actually go inside but they intercept a metal box containing lots of money, after which they are chased by the cops until they are able to abandon their vehicle and get in a motorboat. The men escape.Cor goes home to hear Sonja talking about the big news story. A bank was robbed by men with machine guns. There was lots of shooting but no one was hurt, which is strange.A place to keep Heineken has to be constructed. The men build two soundproof rooms in a large quonset hut.The time comes to kidnap Heineken. The men put on black masks to cover their faces and go to Heineken's house as he and his family are leaving and grab Heineken and his chauffeur and put bags over their heads. The family gets pepper sprayed, and the men get away, Heineken is put in one of two rooms, and the chauffeur Ab Doderer gets put in the other. The men go to a bar so they will have an alibi.A ransom note must be delivered. The men ask for 35 million guilders. One problem: someone asks if there are any fingerprints on the note. Before the note can be delivered, it has to be copied on an office copier. But then what did they do with the original? The copy is delivered to the police station's mailbox without anyone noticing.The kidnapping of Heineken is the big news story. It is suspected that those who did it are a well-organized group of professionals.When someone realizes the original of the ransom note might have been left on the copier, some of the men return to the office and ask George to let them make a copy. The original is there but they are apparently able to remove it without anyone ever seeing it.Days pass and there is no response. When one of the men visits Heineken, the billionaire politely makes some requests which are granted. Every time someone visits the chauffeur he is very frightenedWhen weeks have passed, Heineken offers to give the men half of what they want if they let him go. They are determined to wait.Eventually, Heineken writes a note asking for the ransom to be paid. At least one of the men thinks they ought to give up. It is suggested that Heineken be killed, but then they would have no more leverage. The idea is that if no one pays, the chauffeur will be killed first.At one point, both doors are opened so Heineken and the chauffeur can talk to each other.Directions are given to a man identified only as "Mouse" about how to deliver the money. He is supposed to get in an orange van and go to a location where he will receive more instructions and switch to a yellow Volvo. Finally, the money is delivered to a location under a bridge, and the men collect and stash the money. They take part of the money to a warehouse to divide it up, but then they must face reality. How will they live their lives after this? Where will they go? Paris is one possibility. Some of them have families. Also, there is the matter of recovering the rest of the money without being caught.The police track down the hiding place and figure out Heineken and the chauffeur are there, and both men are freed. Heineken appears on the news.Cor and Willem go into hiding but Cor contacts Sonja. He tells Sonja to go to a pay phone and call him. Somehow the cops have figured out who did it and Sonja is being followed, and she says everyone they know has been arrested.Cor, Willem and Spikes are on their way to what they hope is freedom, Spikes decides he wants to take his money and run. The others may have gotten away. Two of the men enter France and don't appear to be suspected of anything.Finally, Cor and Willem are caught and arrested.At the end, the audience is told what happened to everyone. All of the men involved in the kidnapping eventually served time. |