Oh Boy 2012

Joe McGovern, Entertainment Weekly: Director Jan Ole Gerster lacks the confidence to set his main character genuinely adrift, instead caging him in scenes of cloying seriocomedy. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A black-and-white template of nothingness that shows how far the once unique and inventive German film industry has plummeted. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: This day-in-the-life indie says something profound about an entire generation simply by watching a feckless young man try to figure it out. Read more

Nick Schager, AV Club: [Gerster] affects a hanging-out mood that melds the slacker cool of Jim Jarmusch's 1984 film, Stranger In Paradise, to the dry, jazz-scored, melancholy-tinged comedy of early Woody Allen. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Niko's problem is not just that he's spoiled and lazy, but that he's a wimp about it. He only maintains viewer sympathy because everyone else in the film is so obnoxious. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Writer-director Jan Ole Gerster employs a loose, episodic structure that feels closer in spirit to TV comedy than feature filmmaking; though often funny, the movie never feels like more than the sum of its parts. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: As sure of itself visually in its black-and-white evocations of Berlin as its protagonist is unsure of himself and his future. Read more

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: The Berlin-set tale of an aimless twentysomething is a delightfully unforced comedy with a sure grasp of character and setting. Read more

Martin Tsai, Los Angeles Times: In spite of its insufferably whimsical tendencies - exemplified by its original title, "Oh Boy" - the film may have turned out to be a deeply profound modern postscript about fascism. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: In Gerster's view, Berlin's unresolved past taints its bustling charm and glossy serenity, as well as every familiar course of practical action-yet his movie veers toward the historical kitsch that he satirizes. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: [Features] a charming performance from Tom Schilling as Niko, a confused college dropout wandering around Berlin as his world casually crumbles. Read more

Rachel Saltz, New York Times: If "A Coffee in Berlin" has its own kind of formula and a romanticism that reads as both youthful and obscuring, it nevertheless absorbs you and makes you wonder what Mr. Gerster will do next. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: There's a muted absurdist thread running through A Coffee in Berlin, and while Niko's quest for the titular brew devolves into a series of whimsical frustrations, the filmmaker's motives are more serious. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The cheerful Dixieland soundtrack implies "A Coffee in Berlin" is a comedy, but the story line smears the screen with melancholy. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: It's all rather charming ... leading man Schilling remains affable while never underselling this kindly yet feckless dropout's sheer spinelessness. Read more

Danny King, Village Voice: Gerster's film is agreeably modest: an 85-minute, black-and-white, jazz-scored film, with a Frances Ha tone, about a day in the life of twentysomething law-school dropout Niko Fischer. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: It manages to make an entertaining story out of nothing in particular. And just when you get comfortable passively observing a passive observer, the minutest of twists becomes its own call to action. Read more