Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Goldene Zeiten" or "Eingelocht" or "Strike!" or "Golden Times" is a German movie from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year. It is despite how old it is already one of the most recent works by German writer and director Peter Thorwarth and thanks to his previous successes he has a cast at his disposal that includes more than just a few names that German film buffs will immediately recognize. These would be for example Möhring², Roth, Pistor, Steeger, Kahrmann, Gregorowicz, Burkhard, Sasha, Cortez, Knüfken... even if several of these only play small parts here. The film runs for comfortably over 2 hours, which may also be his very biggest problem because the better moments are just good enough for 80-90 minutes and as a consequence I felt there was a great deal of filler material in here and as a consequence of that actually the movie dragged on many occasions. You could perhaps say that it started in a somewhat solid manner, but the longer it went the bigger a mess it became.I would not necessarily say it has to do with the acting, even if there are some cast members in here that have more recognition value through charisma than through range. With this I am especially referring to Alex Neldel here who just isn't good enough in almost everything she is in sadly. Yes she may be easy on the eyes, but that just isn't enough anymore these days with all these actually talented beautiful actresses. One of them is also in here, namely Loretta Stern who has been in the entertainment industry for a really long time and I think she maybe gave the best performance here and I really hope she can find roles again as she seems to be struggling a bit as well these days. She is miles and miles better than Neldel and I also think the latter really did not do herself a favor with this unlikable character she is portraying in here.Back to the movie in general and also the plot, there are some smart additions in here and I also enjoyed the part about the fake actor, but just like almost everything else in here this segment dragged on for way too long that the solution at the very end almost did nothing anymore for me. The consequence is also that several of the characters come off as a bit on the gimmicky side and not authentic. Besides that the film really cannot be taken seriously as anything other than comedy. Not as drama. Not as romance. Not as a crime movie. And if we ignore these failed attempts at making an impact in other genres, then the comedy really must have been at an amazing level to get a thumbs-up from me here. It is not. There are occasionally mildly funny moments, but even these get repeated way too often (like the farting reference smh). I give this one a thumbs-down. In terms of quality, these 130 minutes are everything, but certainly not golden.

ian-ternik Peter did with BANG BOOM BANG a very good and very funny movie - maybe the best German comedy in a new-style ever. But in his second movie you can see, that there is no substance in his art and talent. Maybe it is the same problem of Thomas Jahn, the director of Knocking On Heavens Door - no ideas and no talent for really good scripts. The look and the coolness of the business is more interesting then a good script and really good ideas.And there is also for Peter as for Thomas nothing more as a filmmaker then their very funny first movies.It is a typical situation for the German movies. One or two movies are really good, the rest is nothing but nonsenses and overacting as a movie-maker. Peter seems to be a wanna-be (and who watched his audio-commentary to Bang Boom Bang knows the he is a notorious wanna-be). The typical amateur-movie-setting (the all-time-local-hero feeling in his movies) makes him a good director for his town and friends. But for a good movie it needs more the then privacy of a local-hero.So it is a professional amateur-movie.

Cradle22 This movie is not as funny as Thorwarths first two movies, namely "Bang Boom Bang" and "Was nicht passt wird passend gemacht".And that was not the intention at all. I cannot conclude with other comments describing the depicted characters as being one-dimensional. As usual, Ralf Richter kind of plays himself, and is good at impersonating the low life small criminal.And Dirk Benedicts performance is absolutely believable. He plays an average guy who suddenly gets the chance to enter the stand in the spotlight of show-business, and who starts to really like it. His lines are funny ("I did not want to play John Stryker anymore, all those Bang Boom Bang, that shooting in afternoon series like 'A-Team', that really pi**ed me off"), and he really delivers the tragic aspects of his character.Thorvarths movies are always over the top in regards of how the action and the stories culminate, but this kind of exaggeration is often funny in itself.I like this kind of mixture between comic and tragedy, in that case I would compare it to "Boogie Nights", which tone reminds me of "Goldene Zeiten".

GMTMaster Peter's script doesn't know what it wants the be: a comedy, a drama, a mix between. The central character is not very likable, we dot care for his problems. And then again, the whole "Charity Golf Turnament" set up is so weak. The entire story lacks structure. It doesn't sparkle any interest. Peter tried obviously hard, actors are as usual all great, so is the cinematography, but when hardly anyone laughs at the Berlin premiere, which I attended, then you have a major problem at hands. The audience doesn't care, nor did the original distributer "Senator Film" who also happens to be a co-producer of the film. They didn't believe in the film so they put it on the market and newcomer 3L picked the film up. Terribly first weeks numbers; only some 27.000 people went to see the film on the weekend. Next time more luck Peter.