Wir können auch anders...

To disprove the old canard that Germans have no sense of humour, I highly recommend this oddball pleasure. A picaresque plot acts largely as an excuse for deadpan, often hilarious humour. And the leading performances are a delight. Perhaps a Wessi take on the strange Ossis, but a loving one. Sort of Thelma and Louise with a happy ending, (and two dumb men, rather than two sassy women...), and almost equally delectable.

The plot, what there is of it, rather loses steam by the end, but by then you're too charmed to worry overmuch. And as this film was the catalyst that sparked off my love affair with the NE of Germany, I can forgive it its occasional longueurs.

See it and reassess your prejudices about the Germans.

A road movie in germany? Only possible when the guys cannot read, the other ones take a map and arrive within hours. This is not the only interestic idea in this movie. Two brothers on their way to their (believed golden) inheritance in eastern germany. An russian red army deserter first comes to kidnap them and the car, but soon becomes helpful on their way towards the wild east. On their way they meet strange guys who cannot swim and make bad deals for good money, but later in the end, after some more or less accidently killed people, a great escape from german police with stolen cars and horses, you find the end unspectacular but sufficient, one cannot imagine a end which fits better to that movie, but the real entertainment is the presented art of humour in some weird and crazy scenes and dialogues. For friends of humour beyond the mainstream a must see!

Despite minor weaknesses in the script the whole film is very funny. This is mostly due to Joachim Król's brilliantly persuasive acting. The story is somehow constructed around the obscurities of life in the east of Germany just after the reunification. So, the film can be seen as a historical snapshot of this almost forgotten time. Thus, it is a classic already.

Where Stan and Ollie in WAY-OUT WEST travel west Kipp and Most who come out of a home for mental handicapped here travel east. On the road - this is supposed to be a road movie - they get involved in many episodic adventures. Pace is so slow that you won't lose track for sure. I never laughed and I didn't even know where the jokes could have been hidden. The only funny moment was when the lead said "Wir koennen auch anders". For me a waste of time.

Dialog is poor and production values, too. The lead actors manage to deliver a weird impression. For fans of DUMB AND DUMBER and maybe Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy this one is worth a try.

3 / 10.

I've watched this film a number of times, and it never ceases to amuse. The

characterizations are excellent, the story is funny, and the dialog, (despite what another reviewer says) is hilarious. It helps, I suppose, if you speak German and can hear the nuances in that language... I don't know if reading the subtitles alone communicates quite the same way. But, I see this as a classic and long for the day when it comes out in a DVD that's playable in the States.