Tschick

Two unlikely heroes (or anti heroes) find each other. The only two boys who are not invited to the hottest (birthday) party of their class. A Young Adult movie based on a book (that I haven't read by the way) that clearly gets the spirit of young boys in one of their most vulnerable times.

You may think that some of the things the boys do are annoying. But boys are not always rational. And if you really think about it, the grown ups are making bigger mistakes. Mistakes they shouldn't do and things to other people they shouldn't be doing. Some things are only suggested (adultery), others are out in the open (alcohol abuse). It's not just light fun, there is also drama. And comedy of course. This works on many levels not just for young people growing up. It is a movie that takes you on a trip ...

This is not a review, but my personal opinion on the movie as someone who loved the book. The movie does not manage to reproduce any of the books charm. If you love the book, do yourself a favor and do not watch the movie.

Even if I had not read the book, I'm quite sure that I still wouldn't have like the movie that much. There is really nothing special to it. The story itself is nothing without the style, in which the book is written. The acting also kind of sucks.

Sorry to say, and it is probably not true, but it just does not feel like any of them cared for the book very much.

If you have not read the book, read it, if you have not watched the movie, keep it that way.

Charming, amiable teen-age comedy with a few moments of sadness thrown in as well. Two 14 year old 'outsider' boys in Berlin form a friendship, and take off for the country in a stolen car, seeking adventure.

The odd couple of friends here are pretty endearing. There's no big, obvious reason Maik is an outsider. He's OK looking, not a bad kid, not a teacher's pet or a bad boy. He just has the bad luck of not standing out enough to make him cool, so he's become a non-entity in his class. His counterpart – the very hard to overlook Tschick -- is an extremely tall Russian immigrant 'new-kid' with a silly hair cut and a bad-ass tough attitude. Their bond is sweet, and somehow believable.

Based on a popular young-adult German novel, "Tschick" is not as edgy, odd and original as most of Akin's films, but has just enough quirk and personality to keep it from falling into feeling too familiar, even if the basic story is a variation on something we've seen many times. Of all Akin's earlier films probably the closes analog is "In July" (2000) – a familiar rom-com story given a personality through Akin's approach.

If not the revelation I was hoping for given the brilliance of Akin's best films ("Head-On", "The Edge of Heaven") it's still a likable coming of age film with it's own bittersweet take on the world.

I think it'd be safe to say that fourteen year-old "Maik" (Tristan Göbel) is a bit of an under-performer at school. His mind is always elsewhere, not helped by his dipso mother who is frequent away for her "health" and his oblivious father. Hormones are also raging too - one of the class cuties is to celebrate her birthday shortly and he's desperate that she invite him to her party. His priorities take an unexpected turn, though, when "Tschick" (Anand Batbileg) arrives at his school. This lad quickly deals with the school smart-asses and the two form an unlikely friendship that eventually sees the new boy procure a rusty old blue Lada and them heading off on a road trip. What now ensues is all rather standard fayre, but it's still quite good fun as they both learn about themselves and each other whilst encountering a little lively romance on their travels with the equally adrift "Isa" (Mercedes Muller). It's told episodically and that allows the appearance of loads of different characters, briefly, to spice up their adventure - one that doesn't really have a goal. Göbel and Batbileg work well together and the aimlessness of their journey, their scrounging and their petty mischief making reminded me occasionally of an "Herbie" movie! It's not especially original, nor is it likely to stick in your mind for long but it does tug at a few memories of when I was fourteen, had a new best friend, and the world was at my feet.

Awesome teenage adventure film. Great acting! The comedy is so warmhearted and situational that u end up wanting to like the film more.