Cut Loose

Tom is an amiable Flemish journalist with too many conflicts on his plate. He writes for a popular Antwerp paper where he chafes under stupid assignments on garden gnome enthusiasts doled out to him by his condescending editor. His girlfriend Tine is pressuring him to buy a house. His outrageously bigoted granddad seems on the verge of a heart attack, ranting on the evils of the welfare state and handouts to foreigners. Partly to save his own sanity, Tom decides to take on some meatier journalistic assignments, including coverage of an immigrants' friendship society where newcomers ostensibly learn how to get along with Belgians. Soon the cautious journalist is caught up in Antwerp's seething ethnic tensions and a romantic liaison with a stunning Pakistani immigrant. At the same time he's being wrenched by his grandfather's plea for euthanasia. Based on a best-selling book by Flemish journalist Tom Naegels, CUT LOOSE is funny and thought-provoking in turn. The author notes, “What I usually say is that it's a romantic comedy with a social aspect…Flanders is a region where people still don't really like to be confronted by multi-cultural issues… I'd like those issues to be a setting, more than a theme.” (In Dutch with English subtitles) – B.B.