Review of Toni Erdmann (2016) by Seraphic W — 22 Dec 2016

What an absolute disappointment. I know I'm going against the grain here but what a disjointed, unfocused pile of overly long, nonsensical drivel this was. Brimming with editing issues and trying too hard to be a satire, the jokes are plucked right out of some 50's Italian slapstick flick rendering the comedy cringeworthy and wholly obsolete.

The characters are one dimensional with no backstory to serve as the connective tissue between them and the viewer, plus... they're both simply unlikable. The father is an utter buffoon of a creepy, selfish stalker that needs to back right the hell off and the daughter... while I can appreciate the acting, is just a moody plank of wood that we are supposed to believe is triggered into an emotional epiphany by the combination of her corporate mishaps and her father's fart jokes.

This film isn't missing the mark because it never seemed to have one. Lacking any sort of coherence or catharsis, it is nothing more but a drawn-out, dusty dramedy of bad dialogue, juvenile jesting and insufferably caricatured people, randomly attributed characteristics to serve the "plot" rather than having the plot fit around them.

Bottom line: If you like David Brent jokes, you might find this funny in places. For me, nothing more that the senile version of the Inbetweeners.

I so wanted to like this. Denied.