Karoline Eichhorn, she can play anything. Even an armored car driver in the middle of nowhere, on the brink of being laid off, looking good. She is the last addition to an ex-convict's team of misfits lined up for a major breaking-and-entering operation. That about sums up the plot. George Clayton Johnson's short story "Ocean's Eleven", first published in 1960, has spawned half a dozen movies to date, ranging from the Rat Pack classic to Steven Soderbergh's third installment of his remake, "Ocean's Thirteen". Writer-director Oliver Mielke's script takes the original plot idea of a gang of resourceful oddballs pulling off a big-time casino heist and replays it against the gloomy backdrop of an Eastern German scrap metal plant. Unfortunately, it's not half quirky as it sounds. The movie has its charms though. The cool soundtrack pays tribute to the story's 1960s origins. Touching performances by Michael Brandner in the part of a suicidal hot dog vendor, and by Manfred Möck as a glum, yet surprisingly sneaky ex-intelligence operative. Solid, if somewhat shallow TV fare. Brandner's character might have been developed as the lead in a more substantial story along the lines of "Schultze Gets the Blues".
2 Reviews
Never reaches greatness
Horst_In_Translation30 April 2015
Warning: Spoilers
"Ossi's Eleven" is the (East) German comedic approach to the famous "Ocean's Eleven". "Ossi" is the short form for an East German citizen, so you may have a rough idea where this is heading. It is a 7-year-old movie which runs for roughly 90 minutes. Unfortunately neither the cast nor the script nor any other aspect of this film is truly great. I have to say, Stefan Jürgens was fun as always though. The rest of the cast include Habeck, Fernandes, Habermann, Otto and Sasha. The latter also contributed the film's soundtrack. These are fairly known to people here in Germany.
Tim Wilde, who plays the main character is not known to me personally. I see that he worked with Michael "Buully" Herbig in several projects in the past. Same applies to Sasha if I remember correctly and also to the movie's director Oliver Mielke. Fitting name for such a movie by the way. Mielke also wrote the film together with a co-director, but it was the first writing project for both of them. So I guess, we should not be too disappointed with the overall outcome. The best thing about this movie is that it does not take itself seriously at all, with a few exceptions, and that is how it should be for every comedy movie. Unfortunately, it is also almost never truly funny either and that's a deal-breaker for every comedy movie as well. Not recommended.
Tim Wilde, who plays the main character is not known to me personally. I see that he worked with Michael "Buully" Herbig in several projects in the past. Same applies to Sasha if I remember correctly and also to the movie's director Oliver Mielke. Fitting name for such a movie by the way. Mielke also wrote the film together with a co-director, but it was the first writing project for both of them. So I guess, we should not be too disappointed with the overall outcome. The best thing about this movie is that it does not take itself seriously at all, with a few exceptions, and that is how it should be for every comedy movie. Unfortunately, it is also almost never truly funny either and that's a deal-breaker for every comedy movie as well. Not recommended.
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