Amizade!

Entertaining buddy roadshow movie with a little love story. Many laughs and slapstick moments, but some moving emotions as well. Worthwhile entertainment.

It's not that funny, but it's not that bad either.

I didn't know what the story was about, but during the course of the movie I got the feeling this was based on a true story. And yes it does, though you would have guessed the movie could have come a bit earlier, considering the real story took place after the fall of the Berlin Wall (which happened 20 years before this movie were released theatrically) and is practically a road movie.

And as it is with Road movies, you get introduced to characters and only get a glimpse of (most of) them. Of course there is a goal to achieve, though the trials and tribulation they go through don't seem too hard. And the money issue does not seem to be any at all at times. But you might not even care about details like that. And one thing is for sure, the ending has some impact to it (although I feel it could have been stronger).

I understand that most people won't get too excited about this movie. There is a lot of subtle humor in it that requires some knowledge of how life was in East Germany, what things like "Mondos" were for instance, in order to appreciate the jokes. One may argue that the movie has overdone some of it. I think it was highly unlikely that two East German guys walked up to the immigration officer at a New York airport and state that they are communists. People in East Germany knew that this wouldn't be a smart move. But, hey, it is also rather unlikely that a US official asks a German bluntly if he was a Nazi. And there are a few other details that might be historically incorrect. Whatever! Getting into this kind of discussion does not do justice to the movie. I had a great time watching it. Many things reminded me of my own first trip to the states mere months after reunification. Besides, it is a road movie with beautiful pictures and sceneries from the American province. And the ending with its twist is indeed quite strong. It turns out that the movie title "Friendship!" is not only a reference to the official greeting within the communist youth organization in East Germany. This picture is also literally about friendship.

A German movie about a road trip from New York to San Francisco: unfortunately nothing is really interesting in this movie: not the acting, not the gags, not the story itself.

The overall result is under the usual standard for a comedy and this is a pity because the subject (two youngsters from east Germany traveling trough America after the fall of the Berlin wall) was promising and could have inspired a much better plot.

To further enhance the sense of estrangement Matthias Schweighöfer bears a weird resemblance with Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth from 'Game of Thrones') in some scenes.

I wonder if I missed something which is understandable only by German speakers but I doubt it: fun is a Universal language.