Clean Hands

BritCrime might draw critical derision in this country, but this study of a Netherlands drug dealer losing control of his patch sticks pretty close to the formula. The subtle twist, however, is that this adaptation of a René Appel novel views the decline and fall of career criminal Eddie (Jeroen van Koningsbrugge) from the perspective of Sylvia, the wife (Thekla Reuten) who had been prepared to turn a blind eye to his thuggish activities until they started impacting upon her children (Bente Fokkens, Nino den Brave). Director Tjebbo Penning maintains a cracking pace, as Eddie tries to branch out to address a cash-flow problem and falls foul of both the cops and his menacingly silent boss (Jim van der Woude). But, while Sylvia keeps shuttling the kids between hiding places as she prepares to flee abroad, the script loses its necessary sense of dread and fails to mine the pyschological depths of a woman now glaringly aware of the spousal faults she had been willing to ignore during the good times.