Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "Türkisch für Anfänger" is a German film from 3 years ago that is actually a spin-off from a really successful German television series. I have not seen that series, but it's really hard for me to believe that they made it work looking at how big a mess this film has become. The writer and director is Bora Dagtekin and he was also the creator of the television show. You may know him better from his recent film "Fack Ju Göhte", one of the most commercially successful German movies of all time and of course they will make a sequel soon. But back to this one here. The biggest problem is definitely the script. Hardly a single line feels authentic that it's really coming from the character and not just an actor pretending to say it. Of course this also has to do with the talent (or lack thereof) from the lead actors Josefine Preuß and Elyas M'Barek.They thought to make this somewhat special by putting all the action on a tropic island, but they really failed here. The banter by the protagonists and the constant question on how masculine is too masculine and how emancipated the female character has to be in order to be respected but not annoying is pretty bad. It's sad to see how this film actually takes itself so seriously at times and at other times is trying so hard to be funny. And it fails on all fronts. One of the worst parts would be when that guy kisses the mother of Preuß' character at the end, but it still can be worse. The worst moment of all is when the mother tells the daughter that she is glad that her daughter finally did drugs. Like wtf? Then again, it's just the tip of the iceberg. There are embarrassing scenes every couple minutes. Truly embarrassing. Not just uninteresting and unrealistic, but really even way worse than that. Probably the worst German movie of 2012 and it's quite a shame it's actually among the most known from that year too as it really gives a bad name to German cinema. Highly recommended to stay away.

Diana Kretzschmar OK, I don't know what kind of Humor these other critics have but I thought it was very funny!!! Stereotypes or not, Stereotypes are Stereotypes for a reason. Don't take it all so serious. I loved the dry sense of humor and their sometimes wrong, sometimes just filled with sassy remark kind of conversations, where the chemistry is just bubbling waiting to explode. I bought the DVD and have watched it probably 3x in the last 2 weeks. See for yourself. Just watch the Trailer and you'll see :) The Movie as well as the TV-Show contains a lot of irony and on purpose but in a fun and self-ironic way makes fun of stereotypes as well as the Person's own Personalities. The four getting stranded on a lonesome Island couldn't be more different from each other yet they bond and - yeah, I won't spoil it :)

Titan K Stay away from this movie except you want to learn something about (the non-existence of) German humor(e.g. for social-anthropological investigations). I don't know how one could put more stereotypes, idiotic clichés and stupidity in a movie. Why are German movies rarely funny? Do they have bad screenwriters? Or do they lack the ability to pick the right ones? I don't know. It seems to me, however, that there is a huge marked for good screenwriters.An advice for those who are forced to watch this movie: Keep in mind that someone tried to be funny! The fact that they miserably failed can be mildly entertaining.

bwdude In fact, there is no measurement HOW bad this is!It starts with the most dreadful "acting" I have seen in along time, and this goes for every single character in the movie. It's like they asked random people right off the street if they'd like to be in a movie.The story is harebrained and stupid. Not a single line of the dialog is even remotely funny, every second of it is so embarrassing, you feel ashamed for watching it.It's playing with the lowest of clichés possible and failing even at that. I admit, I walked out after 20 minutes of pain but I am absolutely sure it did not get any better after that.Oh, and did I already mention how bad the acting is?