Dampfnudelblues (2013) Reviews

• There's no new sheriff in town

  Karl Self2013-08-12

  I was amazed by how good this movie was. I more or less walked into the cinema because I needed some distraction, and it seemed like the best thing on that evening. I haven't read the book and didn't know anything beforehand. Director Ed Herzog hasn't many feature movies to his name and has mostly directed TV features, but it shows in a good way. The movie is unpretentious and understated, but in a good way, and every scene hits home. The actors bring out the most interesting angle of their characters. The movie is funny when it's supposed to be, there is suspense when there is supposed to be suspense, and unrequited romance when ... you get the point. The affluent pastoral boredom of Nether Bavaria and the Munich suburbs, with its immaculately kept but sanitized village squares, is well observed and accurately portrayed. The story is true-to-life and adequately gritty, but there is also a modicum of screen magic and entertainment -- of course, you won't find any cops complementing their uniforms with blue jeans and a casual T-shirt even in the farthest necks of the wood in Bavaria, but being the deadbeat cop of a boondock village never felt so cool before.

• Comedy from south Germany

  kosmasp2013-09-13

  Not everyone has the same taste in comedy and this is not laugh out loud and infantile (well mostly it isn't) humor like the one you'll get with a regular Adam Sandler comedy. This is weird and quirky and feels awkward. And therefor it is (or might feel if you are into this) funny. The main actor is really relishing in the understatement and holding back of emotions, that his role requires. Of course he is on his journey as are some other people in there. Just because it is a comedy doesn't mean it's light. No it does have quite a few dark sides to it. The story thread and the resolution work out nicely and the relationship between characters is easy to follow too. While it takes a while to get to the point it is worth while/watching

• Mostly fun

  Horst_In_Translation2016-04-05

  "Dampfnudelblues" is not only a pretty cool word, it is also a German movie from 3 years ago that runs for slightly under 90 minutes. Ed Herzog is the director, but Christian Zübert is probably more known. He is the writer who adapted Rita Falk's novel for the screen here. This film is part of a new wave of German movies that combine crime stories (usually murder) with comedy based on certain German areas and the people they live there with all their quirks. Or in short, it is everything that the "Tatort" series should be, but mostly is not. The good thing about films like this one here is how they take themselves not serious at all from start to finish. The characters are entertaining, even if they have little to do with the actual crime story. The acting and writing are both pretty decent. Not a surprise that this film here got a sequel already and there will be more to come apparently. I would not call it a must-see by any means, maybe apart from the people who live in the region depicted in here because it directly refers to them, but it is a good watch for everybody, no matter where exactly you come from. And maybe you will even eat some Dampfnudeln while watching for the ultimate viewing experience. Gonna elaborate a bit more on the cast here. The two main players are Sebastian Bezzel from "Tatort" and Simon Schwarz from the Austrian Josef Hader crime films. The approach is pretty similar in here compared to the latter. If you enjoy these, you will probably like this one too. Even if the level got slightly worse in the second half of the film, I still recommend checking it out. Thumbs up.