User Reviews

"Zwei Herren im Anzug", which means roughly "Two Gentlemen in Suits", is a new German 2018 movie. It is also known as "Mittelreich" (sounds like "Mittelerde"/"Middle Earth") as this is the title of the novel that this is based on. The writer of the novel is Josef Bierbichler, a very experienced and prolific German actor, and he also wrote the script and directed. A rare event as this is only his second credit as the man in charge of script and behind the camera. And I found it really disappointing. The film is comfortable in 2-out-of-5-star territory for pretty much the entire runtime, but the ending is so bad that I have to take another star away. The film tries to be a lot: a family saga, a father-son movie, a war-themed movie, a period piece even at times, but it comes short in each and every single area in my opinion. Bierbichler is usually a guarantee for decent acting at least, but he is also hitting some wrong notes in this occasionally black-and-white movie. Most of the other actors do so as well. Gedeck, maybe the most known cast member, is decent (next to the scene-stealing Fassbinder regular Irm Herrmann), but does not really have the material to shine. The only somewhat decent thing I can say about this one is that it does not drag as much as you'd expect for the fact that its runtime is closer to 2.5 hours than to 2 hours. Just occasionally. It is indeed a really long film. Almost the entire thing is flashbacks of a father speaking with his son after his wife's/mother's funeral. One of the worst things is probably that while other films frequently still manage to make a decent impact on the WWII/Nazi Germany subject and tell something new indeed like Kraume's recent work, this one here comes oh so short to that regard. And still, this area is far from the film's worst, even if the scene at the end with the Holocaust and the dead children, mostly girls, is one of the worst of the entire film. It feels all rushed in and for the sake of it. Same is true about the bizarrely gross scene of the son moving into his almost dead mother near the end. Shock factor of the worst kind. Zero leading up to this scene except an earlier quote. I am all for stuff like that if it makes sense and works in terms of the overall picture and character development, but this scene does not work at all. All try-hard and for the sake of it. There is more and you will realize it when you see it such as the pedophile priest scene of course and that is still far from everything. Seems as if Bierbichler really wanted to make this one memorable and included one pointless yet shocking scene after the other at the end. Really disappointed by him. With all the great filmmakers he worked, I really expected better. I have not read the novel, so no idea if the problem is there or in this adaptation. But let me say that this film is a definite contender for worst of 2018, at this point from what I have seen maybe the number one. It's boring in its entirety and absolutely flawed in the last 20 minutes. I highly suggest you skip the watch here. As for the title reference, it is unclear if it describes the duo you see early on (sort of) and at the very end or father and son, but it's also pointless and uninteresting to discuss. Do yourself a favor and watch something else instead.