Thehibikiew Not even bad in a good way

LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Turfseer You might remember Chris Hartigan from his second feature a few years ago, This is Martin Bonner, an offbeat indie about a volunteer counselor for a Christian-based group who has a mentoring program to rehabilitate convicts. And now Hartigan has a new offbeat film on the unusual topic of an African-American father and teenage son, living in Heidelberg, Germany.Kudos to Hartigan for coming up a setting that we rarely get to see— i.e., African-Americans interacting with foreigners. The protagonist is Morris Gentry, the teenage son of Curtis Gentry, a coach employed by a German soccer team. Most critics agree that the talented comedian, Craig Robinson, steals the show as Morris' father, who tries to be a good parent to his rebellious son, played by Markees Christmas. Curtis' life is made much more difficult by the lack of presence of his wife, who passed away before father and son find themselves on foreign soil. Curtis is asked to perform a balancing act with Morris, unsure as to how much discipline he should dole out. He is overprotective precisely because of both of their vulnerable positions as African-Americans—veritable strangers in a strange land. The main point is that this is a father who cares about his son and Robinson does a great job conveying his commitment and sensitivity.While Morris is the victim of racial stereotyping by a coterie of obnoxious German teens who hang out at a local cultural center (they disparagingly refer to Morris as "Kobe Bryant" before they discover he's not a basketball player), Morris wins few points also with his surly disposition. The coming of age plot feels familiar after Morris falls for a slightly older German girl, Karin, another rebellious teenager who also has stereotyped impressions of black people—she dubs Morris a "gangsta-rapper" and eventually dumps him for a German boy who rides a motorcycle.Most of the German kids here don't come off well at all and only Morris' tutor, Inka, provides a positive role model for the beleaguered teenager. While I appreciated Hartigan's positive focus on the father- son bonding, Markees Chirstmas is saddled with a character that lacks the requisite charm. In the end, Hartigan's plot of a teenager's lesson learned isn't enough to compensate for all of Craig Robinson's good work as the supportive parent.

huh_oh_i_c Now, this is not Will & Jaden Smith, looking & being cool, and attractive. Nope, this about two overweight black males, father and son, and while the father is likable (and excellent in Mr. Robot) he's no fashion model. That's the first unfamiliar aspect. The film is of course mostly about Morris, seldom has the word 'misadventures' been so applicable to a movie.The second unfamiliar aspect is that father and son Gentry live in boring, nice middle class housing, this is not what is usually seen when we see black people in mainstreaam film. It's usually the 2 extremes, very rich or very poor. There's hardly any serious drama about the non-struggling black middle class, from the suburbs. There's a reason for that: in America, blacks have been RE-segregated to the wrong sideof the tracks, mostly, and there's not a lot of black drama out there. Even this one is both an indie flick AND European made, my point being: big Hollywood bucks aren't going into this type of film.So, the story is about 13 year old Morris, living in Germany, which seems quite strange to him, he's a fish out of water. He doesn't speak the language which isolates him from other people, especially kids his age. His language tutor sends him to a youth home, to meet other kids. This is something with middling success: he doesn't feel like socializing and the German kids react to him in a stereotyping way ("hey come play basketball, Kobe Bryant", which is both an insult and a compliment at the same time). I will give the German kid credits for making an effort, but I totally understand Morris' hostility, he's out of his element and suspicious. He does befriend a super hot blond girl, Katrin, even though it's unclear why exactly she likes Morris, he's not all that charming towards her. But, their friendship grows, which is a good thing.Overall, the characters do not do stupid crap, like in most movies these days, and everyone's actions make sense in the context of the story. The teacher does overreact a bit to Morris' rap, but I get that. She acts responsible in calling the father to go pick Morris up. The father getting mad at Morris' being braggy and not true to himself is one of the best scenes.And when Morris rejects the German boys attempt to include him, their counter rejection is also understandable. When Katrin pranks Morris at the first party, he reacts in a hurt way, which I also get: she thinks this is funny, but he isn't in a self assured place to appreciate the prank. The Germans aren't portrayed stereotypically: The DJ boyfriend getting mad at Morris intruding on him and his girl, I totally get that. He WAS nice to Morris. The only ones which are a bit iffish are the Youth Home leader who clearly lacks people skills to deal with an uprooted 13 year old who's angry about that, and the flutist bully, whose character is too flat.But other than that: normal people reacting normally. It's an excellent film, well acted, precisely because it's unusual and it deviates from the mainstream. 10 for 10.The Melancholic Alcoholic.

elmeralmonte The story is okay, I liked it but the ending terribly sucked. The ending, was not even an ending... Maybe its an episode.. Haha, I don't know...The movie story gets you interested at first and at the end it gets you even more interested on whats going to happen next and THE END. It was so disappointing.Even it was an episode (tv-series) I would not look at the second part of this movie. If anyone else pays for it... Its a waste of money. I never have done a review on a movie before but I felt so bad about that wasted hour of my life I just had to do it. Im sorry for being so harsh on my first review.

wotiva This is not a film about race or racism. Could easily have been done with two white leads instead of black leads. It's a film about a 13 year old boy discovering sexuality and entering an adult world by way of a love interest, as well as how his father deals with this without his wife. Great acting by them both and the lead female. Subtle but not overly complex screen play. Interesting and not trying to be over emotional. Not a superb film but worth watching. I really liked the way they portrayed the father's efforts to do well by his son and manage his adherent behaviour without alienating him. Son was also not reckless but simply unaware of the world he was growing into.