Review of Toni Erdmann (2016) by Wayne K — 24 Sep 2017

One of the most crushingly dull and unjustifiably overextended films I've watched this year, Toni Erdmann was bafflingly showered with praise upon release, and I completely fail to see what the big deal is.

It starts off fine, with a nice introduction to our amiable protagonist and the situation he faces: Disassociation from his daughter. Not unheard of in the cinematic world, and he sets out to reconnect with her.

What follows is more than 2 and a half hours of flaccid comedy, contrived scenarios and tooth-grinding tedium. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever for this film to be over 160 minutes long. I can only assume this was done to give the film an epic scale or make it seem important.

All long films are great, right? I laughed maybe 3 times in total, and spent the rest of the time rolling my eyes, groaning loudly or counting the floor tiles, and sometimes all 3 at the same time. The actions of our lead are pitiful, not very amusing or charming and, despite his goal being to re-establish the familial bond with his daughter, he goes out of his way to ruin what could potentially be a great career for her, all for his own benefit.

He's like a child who's been denied their favourite toy and is now throwing a petty tantrum until they get it back. The film is so padded with business jargon and unnecessary fluff that the Wikipedia plot synopsis doesn't include more than half of what takes place; that's how unimportant it is.

The acting is good, and the camera is usually pointing in the right direction, but what it captures is not even slightly worth committing to film. Trying to do both comedy and pathos, and largely failing on both counts, Toni Erdmann would be simply bad if it were an hour and a half, but at 2 and a half it's close to unbearable.

A tragic squandering of potentially great source material.