Reviews

I am a fan of independent quirky comedy (Night on Earth and Down by Law, for example, or in a more similar vein to Toni Erdmann, von Trier's The Boss of It All).

I went into Toni Erdmann expecting something like that.

What I got instead was a film that was less than the sum of its parts, with awkward, stilted pacing (possibly intentionally), and really variations of one slapstick joke being repeated over and over again.

It's not that it's not funny, there are quite a few good laughs there, and it's not that the main character's attempts to reconnect with his daughter are not charming. It's just that those good elements are diluted in many scenes where one or both of the main characters were surrounded by a bunch of other actors just feeling awkward and not knowing what to do with the main characters (repetitive and increasingly unfunny) shenanigans. It just felt like bad film-craft, with really poor chemistry between the actors most of the time.

Another thing is (I will spare you the details) the completely gratuitous scenes with sexual content and nudity, which just seemed out of place within the rest of the film, and were there (in my view) just to make the film seem more edgy and challenging. Nothing wrong with edgy and challenging, and nothing wrong with nudity in principle, it's just that these scenes did not work with the rest of the film at all and were far too long, and far too detailed, and one of them did not contribute to the plot at all.

In the end, the director's self-indulgence and the lack of chemistry between the two main actors and the rest of the cast just makes it feel like an excuse to put the main character in increasingly unlikely and increasingly awkward situations, that he responds to by playing cheesy gags. You end up losing interest in the characters, and feeling the film is far too long (well, at least that was my subjective experience).

As someone who grew up (mostly) in the Middle East, I understood the language, knew the actors, and knew the director. I went to see this with a friend (with no connection to the ME) fully expecting an at least decent film with reasonable acting. The premise was promising, but was completely wasted by the collective ineptitude of everyone involved.

Firstly, everything looked artificial. The actors had loads of make up (even the men), the prison cell didn't look real, the dialogue was wooden and unconvincing, the scenes in Paris were completely pointless and also very fake and unnatural. This is all very strange, given that I know these people can act, I've seen them do it before! Perhaps Hatem Ali got lost, trying to imitate French Art-house? So, long and not-so-meaningful pauses, no dialogue, and badly translated scenes acted by a crazy playwright in his prison cell? Oh, and of course, the obligatory relationship drama bolted on top.

Also, there seemed to be attempt to use fewer actors? Everyone was someone's partner, but also someone's brother/ daughter / son. Which made the little plot that was there really confusing.

Anyway, none of the film made sense, it was boring, and the relationship between the characters weren't explored, there was no humour, and no characters one could engage with or feel for. It just falls flat in every way possible.

So in summary, kitschy villas, a lot of make up, and boredom, that's what I remember from it. What a waste of talent, time and story.

I watched this film by complete chance, not knowing anything about it (just needed to choose a film to see with a friend). It's not a roller coaster sort of film, but it has many charms. Really beautifully filmed, and has some absolute gems of dead-pan humor.In fact, I liked it so much, that I broke my oath not to buy any more DVDs, and got me into other early Jarmusch films.

Granted, the beginning is very slow and the plot is quite unusual - and that may put off some. That said, the very slow open scenes have some amazing shots, and some really good music.

Begnini does a great job with the language jokes, and Tom Waits and John Lurie also bring their characters to life.

All in all, a really good film. Definitely worth watching.

Despite it's amateurish look and feel, the director showed great intelligence in the choice of interviewees and scenes. The teenager with her Michael Jackson posters, the video shop with Britney Spears posters, the hapless 20-year-old marine. The film shows the tragedy of the situation in Iraq, as well as the hope and resilience human beings have.

The film also does a very good job with breaking some stereotypes that Iraqis are being pushed into. It shows a vibrant and diverse society where you go to the writers union to drink a beer in peace with all the intellectuals and the political prisoners and it also shows how clueless the Americans are in dealing with Iraq.

The film is unresolved and undecided -- accurately reflecting Iraq's situation. It also had glimmers of hope, but it was filmed two years ago, and things have gotten worse since.

I think "Last Action Hero" is great. The tongue-in-cheek self irony is very rare in Hollywood, and the film has a brilliant sense of humour.

Arnie actually acts, and acts well (again, a very rare occurrence). And the film premise is very unusual and interesting. It also pokes fun at standard Hollywood formulas and pre-packaged characters very effectively.

This film is terribly under-rated. It's not meant to be an action flick, and if you try to look for an action flick in it you'll be disappointed. If you want to be entertained by Hollywood making fun of its action movies then you'll enjoy it very much.

I can't believe this film was so well-reviewed! I'm glad I didn't go to see it at the Cinema!

I just don't get it--the characters were all two-dimensional and stereotypical, the acting was mediocre, and the camera work was also two-dimensional.

This film had nothing that would make it special or worth watching, and the story-line was sentimental dribble. The music was just right for the story line.

Vera was so angelic and perfect, basically, not a real person...again, I do not understand all the great reviews it got in the UK -- the emperors new clothes anyone?

Seriously, Why do American and Frech actors pretending to be Czechs need to speak perfect English with a fake Russian accent? I am a man, so i enjoyed the gratuitous nudity--but a soft porn flick would have more of that, and at least wouldn't pretend it's artistic.

All the political statements where painfully didactic- has the director heard of subtlety? The acting was also woody and melodramatic, and the comic relief was never funny. The characters were very shallow, and I just couldn't identify with them at all.

The bit where I did laugh was when they cut the actors into archival footage of the demonstrations in Prague - and they were black and white and then sepia to match the footage-just ludicrous.

I read many of Kundera's short stories (not The Unbearable Lightness of Being), and there are good things about his style of writing (although his themes are one big male fantasy)-and I have to say, the film did NOT convey any of the goodness of Kunderas style.

This is one of Imam's worse films--if not the worse. It tries to deal with the complex issues of Islamic fundamentalism in a very simplistic and shallow way. It is full of clichés and bad acting.

If you want to contrast it to something better that deals with the same issues see "Al Irhab w al Kabab" (Terrorism and Kebabs) , or "Tuyur al Dhalam" (Birds of darkness, but do not know what the English title is). Another good recent Imam film is "Al la'aeb ma'a alkibar" (playing with the big guys ...more or less), but it doesn't deal with Fundementalism, it deals instead with gmnt corruption.

Imam can be very good--but he need a good script and a good director to be the brains behind his performance.

Accidentally, it happens to be one of the best critiques of the modern middle east...and I should know-I'm from there! I say accidentally because Monty python so effortlessly describe things about the middle east that are so true and accurate, but so diifcult to describe, and I don't think they really intended to-they're just so brilliant! There is a small cinema in Prague that shows the Life of Brian for free every Xmas eve. I took my brother there to see it when we were visiting family a couple of years ago, and he laughed so much he almost went to hospital. This film contains some of the best gags in history, and it's also clever and subversive, would give it 11/10 if I could. I've been watching LoB once a year on average for about 5 years now, and I always discover new gags-I will probably go on watching it forever.