Willkommen bei den Hartmanns

I stumbled on this by Netflix recommendations and was a little bored at this time, so I thought: Why not? Overall this film is a light comedy with a solid background. At first I thought this may be part of 'framing', getting the German people to accept the flood of migrants they have experienced over the last years. But there's more to it. I got intrigued after about ten minutes and watched it till the (almost expected) end. The filming and acting was good, it was good entertainment, but with a slightly belly grim on my side (as a German). As a comedy this works well, but I found the educational under streams to be better citizens annoying. We Germans don't need that. I gave a six, though.

There are several reasons to recommend this comedy. First of all, it is a very entertaining take on topics that are being discussed not only in Germany, but all over Europe: how will the influx of refugees from Africa and the Middle East change our society? In this movie, a rich Munich family wants to do more than wave "Refugees welcome"-placards, so they offer a home to one of the refugees. As a plot, this could be rather embarrassing due to political correctness (or lack thereof), but writer and director Simon Verhoeven manages to include all the different views on immigrants without losing track of the comedy for one moment. He has created a set of characters that are likable and well-rounded, and the development of the story, while predictable in the general outline (of course a comedy needs a happy ending), is surprising at every turn and full of funny dialogue which had people laughing out loud in the cinema. Another reason to watch this comedy is the cast. The older generation is being represented by the always wonderful Senta Berger, as well as Heiner Lauterbach, Uwe Ochsenknecht and Ulrike Kriener (yes, those last three together had us laughing in Doris Dörrie's "Männer" in the 1980s), the younger generation containing heartthrobs Florian David Fitz and Elyas M'Barek and a very lovable Palina Rojinski. Refugee Diallo is played by Eric Kabongo, who will hopefully get to play more leading roles in the future! And, thirdly, I very much liked the artful camera work and the well-chosen sets, which made the movie a joy to watch.

Sloppy production with a couple of nice jokes (but those seems to happen more by accident). A poor attempt of story telling to a subject that could have been been quite interresting. It's obvious that the director was not capable to wrap his arms around the story which speak a lot for his lack of talent. Also most of the actors performed far below their normal level. Overall a total waste of time.

Great movie! The characters are funny, like a comedy should be at its best. The best German actors, straight-to-the-point dialogues, beautiful pictures. Hei, a German comedy at this international cinema level, you do not find that often! I've put Hartmann's heart in my heart, with all their spleens and weaknesses, who still hold together when it matters. What else do you want? That the comedy uses a serious refugee fate as a background for the family development, is wonderful. This is the way life is, everyone lives as best he can, and, at best, tries to help others. Simon Verhoeven wrote the script BEFORE the great wave of refugees came to Germany. He has taken a current situation as a hanger for typical family entertainment. And this has turned into a wonderful film that has thrilled over 3 million viewers.

After several waves of refugees from Syria, Germany founded some movies about the circumstances to show positive examples how life can turn. But in my opinion the issue is "too wanted", the movie teaches the audience. Not in a bad way. It's ok to watch it, why not. But it has a smell of artificiality. It was a well-intentioned. I don't know which audience I would recommend it. Maybe for foreigners who want to know some parts of Germany's problems of the refugee-wave in 2015. I think it does not center clear enough on the problems many of the refugees have and why they fled.