Spieleabend

On netflix usa, it's blame the game .. in german, "spieleabend"... which roughly translates to game night! A german film, dubbed into english for the united states market. After a chance meeting, jan and pia really hit it off, and have a thing going. Now, jan is meeting pia's friends at game night. But when jan let's a pet bird escape, it starts a chain of events where things just go from bad to worse. Of course, if he had just told the truth about letting it out, everything might have gone better. But people never tell the truth in films. And now, pia's friends are ganging up on poor jan. I would have just left. Jan is such a nice guy, he doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. The film is okay. It's a lot of silly events that we have to buy into. The acting is fine. It's just painful to watch a group gang up on someone like that. And some of the voices in the dubbing are just way over the top. It all ends just fine, but we have to go through a lot of painful events to get there. Directed by marco petry.

What a tremendous waste of time...

At the beginning, it seems like a cute movie, in the romantic comedy style. By the middle of the movie, you already feel the urge to stop watching so as not to waste more time. But this urge battles with the expectation that it might get better. However, that's not what happens, quite the opposite. The movie takes on a ridiculously comic personality, even becoming vulgar. Don't waste a minute on it. In fact, I think even for teenagers, this movie is garbage. The plot is thin, the characters are shallow, and the humor is forced. It's almost painful to watch, and you keep hoping it will improve, but it just gets worse.

Wetflix germany is obviously trying to make the lead of this movie a star, a brand. Well maybe they should have chosen someone who can actually act. One feels sorry for this guy. The director also wasn't of much help, it seems.

Also the chemistry with the female lead doesn't work at all, which is fatal for the movie as it is based on their relationship. She appears like his mother.

The story is terribly boring and moved on far too slowly. The characters are so over the top and the acting so exaggerated, even for a comedy, that it's never funny. For a slapstick boulevard comedy, on the other hand, the gags aren't crude enough. Comedy is a difficult genre!

The autistic guy is a bad joke. Just putting on a pair of glasses doesn't make you an autistic person. So bad.

The movie is very german. It's not attacking anyone or anything. Very PC. Trying not to offend anybody. Just flat and timid and without a heart.

Humour is about BREAKING taboos, guys. No guts no humour no fun.

Blame the Game (2024) German language Netflix. Pia brings her new boyfriend to her monthly games night with a bunch of friends.

What could go wrong?

The new boyfriend Jan is a down to earth bloke who runs a bike shop, sadly Pia's friends are somewhat pretentious.

Social awkwardness and snobbery come to the surface, with all of the groups personal foibles and secrets exposed to the new player.

If you have ever been to a games night in which adults resort to, let's be fair puerile and childish behaviour. You'll know that they can be frightfully embarrassing and tedious in the extreme.

Jan is in this predicament.

After much tomfoolery and jolly japes this unlikable bunch of dice throwing morons live to throw their collective dice again.

If you have never experienced a games night as an adult you too can experience the utter embarrassment of not knowing your Jimmy Tesco from yer Van Morrison, or the utter devastation of losing at RISK, with allies and allegiances being broken at the drop of Napoleon's "bicorne" (hat). Sadly the interpersonal battles in the film do not commence on a roll of a dice or an undeclared mission card but over the whims of a group of neurotic and pretentious tossers pontificating over wine and fine cheeses.

Worse still the ultimate humiliation in losing at freckles or soggy biscuit. Soggy biscuit, the only time a premature ejeculation is a good thing.

After what is a great premise for a film it soon becomes pretty boring and thankfully tedious, pretty much like a games night when no one is likely to win throwing the board up in air the along with cards and pieces is the most dignified way to end the torture.

PS I can't wait for my next games night.

5/10....

Being from Belgium, I've watched my share of European movies. This comedy, like many others from the continent, is an acquired taste. Silly and absurd, yet built around a somewhat believable culture clash between city hipsters and gated community yuppies, the film has little action but a lot of cliché-ridden talking. The dialogue will probably get on some people's nerves, but even though the characters are literally a caricature of their own archetype, the babble is quite recognizable and does have a natural flow to it. The actors are actually doing a rather good job, but they have a sort of theatre vibe more than the usual movie appeal.

It may not be my favorite European comedy, or not even my favourite German comedy, but I don't regret watching it on this lazy day. Heck, towards the end I was even cheering for the 'good guy'!