I've Never Been to New York (2019)

Maria, the mother of television presenter Lisa Wartberg, has an accident with memory loss. All she can remember is that she has never been to New York. Without further ado, the elderly woman smuggles herself aboard a cruise ship.

Director:

Philipp Stölzl

Writers:

Alexander Dydyna (screenplay), Jan Berger (collaboration on screenplay)

Stars:

Heike Makatsch, Moritz Bleibtreu, Katharina Thalbach

3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Heike Makatsch	...	Lisa Wartberg
Moritz Bleibtreu	...	Axel Staudach
Katharina Thalbach	...	Maria Wartberg
Uwe Ochsenknecht	...	Eintänzer Otto
Michael Ostrowski	...	Fred, der Maskenbildner
Pasquale Aleardi	...	Bordzauberer Costa
Marlon Schramm	...	Florian Staudach
Mat Schuh	...	Eintänzer James
Andreja Schneider	...	Edita
Stefan Kurt	...	Kapitän
Cornelius Obonya	...	Senderchef
Judith Neumann	...	Polly
Philipp Hochmair	...	Arzt
Shadi Hedayati	...	Krankenschwester
Frank Zander	...	Trucker

Storyline

For television presenter Lisa Wartberg her job is the most important thing in life. That changes, however, when her mother Maria loses her memory after an accident and suddenly knows only one thing: she has never been to New York. The feisty lady escapes from the hospital and smuggles herself as a stowaway on board a cruise ship to finally experience the city, which never sleeps, up close. Her daughter has no choice but to go on the search for her mother together with her make-up artist Fred. They do find her, but the ship leaves before Lisa and her mother get off board. A chaotic journey across the Atlantic begins, where Lisa not only gets to know passenger Axel and his son, but also her mother makes an exciting acquaintance.

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Plot Keywords:

based on stage musical | german abroad | cruise ship performer | mother daughter relationship | city in title | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Musical | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The title song "Ich war noch niemals in New York" was never sang entirely int he movie and was only heard briefly in the original version sag by Udo Jürgens at the beginning of the movie (on the radio), was played instrumentally in the score and the chorus was sang twice in the second half of the movie. Also Maria (Katharina Thalbach) was telling the end of the song to Lena in the airplane.

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Goofs

At several points in the movie, the position of the sun and moon are inconsistent with the ship's west-bound course from Hambourg to New York, with the sunrise appearing in front of the ship, for example.

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Crazy Credits

Before the final credits you can see the words "Merci, Udo" displayed over the postcards on the wall

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Connections

References Titanic (1997)

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Soundtracks

Liebe ohne Leiden
Music by Udo Jürgens
Performed by Marlon Schramm

User Reviews

Unbearable

In the screening I attended a set of unlikable characters dressed in candy colored clownish costumes tried to entertain a slowly dissipating audience with cheesy jokes, mediocre dancing and amateurish singing.

This might work on a stage with improved choreography and with a cast that is accustomed to add zest to this string of outdated pieces of German pop music that seem to be connected only by a list of the top ten hits of long deceased singer/composer Udo Juergens.

Not sure if the awards this effort received were in the realm of the Golden Raspberry.

Details

Country:

Germany

Language:

German English

Release Date:

17 October 2019 (Germany)

Also Known As:

I've Never Been to New York

Filming Locations:

MMC Studios, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ziegler Film, UFA Fiction, Mythos Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39:1