Azizler

A very good example of general decline on cinema quality after streaming. Above average casting and role playing below average story and directing. What the hell was that. Supposed to be funny, supposed to be romantic. Below expectations

Lets be honest, you are all asking yourselves what did I watch? How were these actors cast in this, and who funded it?

But first some backstory... This film was the first writing credit for the Taylan brothers, and they unapologetically gave us an avant-garde Turkish character study. In Turkey there are two types of stories; the traditional 3 act structure that most of us are used to called the "Olay Oykusu" OR the character study / "glimpse into the life of" pieces that have a very thin plot, and spend more time on character, called "Durum Oykusu". Azizler my friends, is the latter, a story where we glimpse into the ridiculous and unbelievable lives of our protagonists. Although this version of storytelling is dominant in biographical stories (Roma, Kaybedenler Kulubu) it is rare to see this format in a minimalistically fantastical world - and lets all be honest, it was too bizarre. As for our actors, this type of story is where they truly get to flex their acting muscles since the movie depends on it and they have quite the range to do what they want.

Since this is the first writing piece from the Taylan brothers, one can assume that they are still fine tuning their skills and that they have more to grow. Thankfully Netflix has enough cash to throw at them, probably for the sake of creating a relationship and I assume gave them final cut. This resulted in a 6/10 film that was too off the beaten path for its own good. Will you like this film if you don't watch award films? No. Will you watch this because it is all the A-listers best work? Probably not. Should you get baked before watching this? Absolutely... But what did you expect - actually though what did you expect?

If you watch this movie, you should do so for the views and so that Netflix spends more money in Turkey. Maybe if enough of us watch these Turkish films, Netflix might greenlight a "Roma" of our own.

A Dark-comedic story that tells a notable story with a theme(can be grabbed very quickly). This combination is rare in modern day Turkish movies. Not a bad movie but, potentially good idea is wasted to some extent. They managed to gather some good actors/actresses in town, including Engin Gunaydin, Haluk Bilginer, Oner Erkan, Ilker Aksum, Okan Yalabik, Binnur Kaya and Gulcin Santircioglu. Overall, you will not regret watching it.

It is quite enjoyable and sad storyline without satisfying conclusion..

However, i like it and do not see as a waste of time.

The expectations were quite high for this movie since the writers, directors and cast are all well-known names with a good reputation in the Turkish movie industry. However, the expectations weren't met and this affected the experience badly beyond the actual quality of the movie.

In fact, this movie is a nice drama. And if it were a pure drama instead of trying to be an (absurd) comedy at the same time, I think it would be a great movie. Even though making a good drama movie should be harder than making a comedy movie; failing in comedy is also easier and as simple as failing to make people laugh. Unfortunately, Azizler(Turkish) or Stuck Apart failed on that for the most part. Besides, absurdity in this movie felt over the top and unnecessary. One might say that this over the top absurdity harmed the comedy further or even the succeeded drama. All in all, these factors contributed to the fact that absurd comedy and drama didn't match well for this one.

Whereas the drama around "loneliness" was pretty solid. We have characters with different types of problems with loneliness and this contrast gives a nice depth to the story. The acting overall was pretty good too, as expected. Engin Gunaydin as the leading role was flawless. Haluk Bilginer was also great as "Erbil". I truly liked Erbil and his character background was beautiful.

In conclusion, if you remove or ignore the discordant absurd comedy parts, you will have a well-done drama. So I think this movie still worth a watch. But as a drama rather than a comedy.