A Dutch film visits gangstas in reform school

Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker assassinated last year in Amsterdam by an Islamic extremist, is represented in the Philadelphia Film Festival by Cool!, a muddled, rap-happy portrait of juvenile gangstas rehabbed at a Dutch reform school called Glen Mills.

Cool! clearly aspires to be in the tradition of lost-boys masterpieces Los Olvidados and Pixote, but is too exploitative to succeed as a cautionary tale and too cautious to succeed as an exploitation picture.

Van Gogh, great-grand-nephew of the post-impressionist, cast his tale both with professional actors and actual inmates of Glen Mills. The nonprofessionals, mostly the children of Moroccan immigrants, register more strongly than do the pros. Only in the sequences where it details the behavior-mod process by which the juveniles are reprogrammed is the film absorbing.

With its hip-hop tempo and jump-cut editing that replicate the rabbit metabolisms of its characters, Cool! has some rhythmic felicity. Its sex appeal is provided by luscious Katja Schuurman, even riper than Isabelle Adjani in her prime, who serves as the Wendy to these lost boys. That is, if Wendy was a corrupter, seducer and redeemer.

Contact movie critic Carrie Rickey

at 215-854-5402 or crickey@phillynews.com.

Read her recent work at http://go.philly.com/carrierickey.

Cool!

** (out of four stars)

Written by Theodor Holman and Gijs van de Westelaken, directed by Theo van Gogh. With Fouad Mourigh, Farhane El Hamchaoui,

Katja Schuurman and Johnny de Mol. In Dutch with subtitles.

Running time: 1 hour, 29 mins.

Parent's guide: No MPAA rating (sex, drugs, violence)

Playing at: 9:30 p.m. Sunday and 5:15 p.m. Tuesday at the Ritz East 2.