I find myself completely baffled by Toni Erdmann. What can one say about a comedy that sits at 162 minutes and isn’t funny? The film follows a father named Winfried (Peter Simonischek), divorced and reeling after the recent death of his dog. He decides to travel to Bucharest, Romania, where his daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller) works endlessly for a consulting firm trying to claim an oil company as a client. Watching Ines waste away toward unhappiness, Winfried sticks around Bucharest longer than expected, employing numerous pranks, alternate identities, and an unsightly piece of false teeth to help his solemn daughter find joy. Maren Ade’s film is strange without much of a point. Its two lead actors seem committed enough, their performances are strong but to what end? Toni Erdmann dabbles in awkwardness, and seems to be in search of humanity, but I didn’t find an ounce of it here. It meanders off into the minutia of the consulting business, and then spirals off into subplots involving Winfried’s disguise as a toothy life coach/German ambassador (the titular Erdmann). I had trouble keeping track of what was going on, but not because the film was particularly confusing, I just didn’t care. Boredom can do that to you.

 

Written and Directed by Maren Ade