even if this film be allegedly a joke in response to critic it still an awful film . if one be go to commit to that sort of thing at least make it a good joke . first off and jeroen krabbé be i guess the poor man gerard depardieu . naturally i hate gerard depardieu even though he be very funny in the iron mask three musketeer one . otherwise to me he be box office poison and jeroen krabbé be bad than that . the poor man box office poison . really that be not be fair to the economically disenfranchise . if the 4th man be suppose to be some sort of critique of the bourgeoisie . what be i say . it isn not . let just say hypothetically and if it be suppose to be and it wasn not sharp enough . satire be a tricky thing . if it isn not sharp enough the viewer become the butt of the joke instead . i think that be what happen . the story just end up a a bunch of miserable disgust character do nothing that anyone would care about and not in an interesting way either . ( for a more interesting and worthwhile application see any luis bunuel film . very sharp satire ) [ potential spoiler alert ] really and the blow job in the cemetery that jeroen krabbé character work so so hard to attain . do you even care . be it funny . since mr. voerhoven be suppose to be a good film maker i will give him the benefit of the doubt and assume it be some misanthropic joke that get out of control . though i be guess he do not cast jeroen krabbé because he the bad actor and every character he play have be a pretentious bourgeois as . except he incompetent at it . so it become like a weird caricature . do you think mr. voerhoven do that on purpose . and jeroen krabbé be the butt of the joke as well . i just do not see it . so you understand the dilemma i be face with here right . it be the bad film ever because he suppose to be a good director . so there be some kind of dupery involve . i know patch adam be horrible without even see it . do not be dupe by the 4th man deceptively allure packaging or mr. voerhoven reputation a a good director etc . etc .