This film is essentially a German version of Warner Bros' 2007 dramedy The Bucket List (since Der Geilste Tag is also distributed by WB, one wonders if this is actually a localized remake of the film), with a few notable modifications, the most obvious one being that the central duo are now young men presumably in their late 20s.
The film does a decent job presenting its premise and the scenery, shot in the same vein as 2013's Ben Stiller vehicle The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, is beautiful to behold, combining to make a passable road movie. Unfortunately, the film suffers from a lack of real depth in its two central characters. The Bucket List, whose screenplay had not been one of its strengths, at least presented its main characters in a roughly convincing fashion, and was really helped by Nicholson and Freeman's reliably amazing performances. Here in Der Geilste Tag, the combination of the script and the two main actors are not on the same level. The overuse of montage, which breaks apart any notion of rhythm and reasonable pacing, also serves to mask the fact that plot wise, there is simply not a lot of interesting stuff going on here compared to better road movies. There is an abundance of cheesy American pop music (way too many of them to the point of distracting) that would make even an average mainstream Hollywood comedy pale in comparison. Along with such uninspiring cliches as "today is the first day of the rest of your life" message (which most first year film school student would find boring) from a fortune cookie, all the little details, which are still creative decisions on the filmmakers' part, do not at all help with a film where the subject matter is supposed to be serious.
As a road movie about the bonding of two men, this film just about passes the mark. As a dramedy touching on such a sensitive topic, it fails to meet its potential. Since I rated The Bucket List 7/10, this film gets a 6 from me.
The film does a decent job presenting its premise and the scenery, shot in the same vein as 2013's Ben Stiller vehicle The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, is beautiful to behold, combining to make a passable road movie. Unfortunately, the film suffers from a lack of real depth in its two central characters. The Bucket List, whose screenplay had not been one of its strengths, at least presented its main characters in a roughly convincing fashion, and was really helped by Nicholson and Freeman's reliably amazing performances. Here in Der Geilste Tag, the combination of the script and the two main actors are not on the same level. The overuse of montage, which breaks apart any notion of rhythm and reasonable pacing, also serves to mask the fact that plot wise, there is simply not a lot of interesting stuff going on here compared to better road movies. There is an abundance of cheesy American pop music (way too many of them to the point of distracting) that would make even an average mainstream Hollywood comedy pale in comparison. Along with such uninspiring cliches as "today is the first day of the rest of your life" message (which most first year film school student would find boring) from a fortune cookie, all the little details, which are still creative decisions on the filmmakers' part, do not at all help with a film where the subject matter is supposed to be serious.
As a road movie about the bonding of two men, this film just about passes the mark. As a dramedy touching on such a sensitive topic, it fails to meet its potential. Since I rated The Bucket List 7/10, this film gets a 6 from me.