Just Friends

This is a wonderfully endearing film that failed tragically for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the film: bad marketing. The film ran in a few Belgian theaters for a few weeks and then disappeared quietly. Nevertheless, Just Friends has everything going for it. The sound track is made by jazz legend Archie Shepp and is one of the gems in my jazz collection. Some of the supporting actors belong to the finest musicians in the Belgian scene, like Geert Kliphuis, who once wrote music for Belgian favorite Vaya Con Dios. Josse de Pauw as main character Jack once again proves that he is indeed one of the best Belgian actors. The story is strong, with wonderful and almost magic side tracks. (20 double bases jamming on an empty town square, in the pale light of early Sunday morning!) The film won first prizes at the Flanders Film festival in 1994 and then, just as big things were supposed to happen, somebody forgot to print some flyers or something like that. Just Friends shows that real quality does not surface by its own brilliance and that breaks my heart. Cruel world.