Film Review: Leak (Lek, 2000)

Great films prove their greatness by serving as point of reference to films made decades in the future and in different countries. Sidney Lumet’s Serpico did that by inspiring the theme, style and plot of Leak, 2000 Dutch crime drama directed by Jean Van De Velde.

Script, co-written by Van De Velde and Simon De Wal, is inspired partly Sans racune, book by former policeman Jan Van Daleen, and partly by so-called “IRT Affair”, major scandal that revelead Dutch elite police investigators being involved in various illegal and questionable activities. The protagonist of the film, played by Cas Jansen, is Eddy Dolstra, young policeman who enjoys good life with his beautiful wife Ria de Boer (played by Ricky Coole) and hopes that he would have many children with her. While doing fertility tests in the hospital he by accident meets Jack “Sjakie” Bon (played by Victor Löw), an old childhood friend who has just got daughter. Sjakie drives Lamborghini Diablo and Eddy doesn’t take much to conclude that Sjakie is involved in illegal but lucrative business. Ambitious detective Ferdinand de Witt (played by Gijs Scholten van Ascha) wants to exploit Eddy’s friendship with Sjakie in order to turn Sjakie into informer during investigation against vicious gang boss Haveman (played by Ton Kas). Sjakie very reluctantly agrees, but when spectacular drug bust based on his information fails, it becomes apparent that Haveman’s organisation has informer within police ranks. Aware that his and his friend’s life might be in danger, Eddy desperately tries to uncover that person, but this turns out to be quite difficult.

Leak is very grim and realistic tale of friendship, loyalty and police corruption. Protagonist is, like in Serpico, young idealist who wants to do the right thing only to encounter many of his colleagues who are willing to take bribes or conformists who ignore their colleagues’ bribery because of conformism and not wanting to make waves. Cas Jansen, an actor who by that time played mostly in television soap opera, looks quite young and it is that very youth that sets him apart from actors who play characters that look much older due to years of frustration in their police work. Jansen plays role very well and same can be said of number of good character actors. Van De Velde directs film well, which becomes apparent in semi-ironic and macabre opening scene and the final section of the film, that features interesting and somewhat unconventional action. Leak, on the other hand, suffers due to predictably melodramatic subplot dealing with protagonist wife and the ending many would consider quite confusing. Despite that, Leak is a good film that could be recommended to the fans of hard-boiled police dramas.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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