De marathon

Four unathletic car mechanics in Rotterdam sign up for the Rotterdam Marathon to save their service station. The 010 equivalent of The Full Monty: social realism with a smile and a tear. Four blokes from Rotterdam have been working like brothers for years in the garage of one of them. When the fiscal worst comes to the worst, the quartet gets the brilliant idea to run the Rotterdam Marathon for financial sponsorship. The crippled garage hand Youssef assumes the role of team coach, whose only experience with sports is a game of cards. The comparison to All Stars is obvious, but in tone and sentiment this tragicomic debut by commercial maker Diederik Koopal is more closely related to The Full Monty. (Nederlands Film Festival)