"Big Manni" is a German television movie that premiered back in May 2019, so this one is almost one year old now, slightly under. The director of these 1.5 hours is Niki Stein and he has been in the industry for decades. Same is true for one of the two writers who came up with the script here, but the other is almost a rookie. The title already gives away the name of the protagonist, namely Manfred Brenner. He is clearly based on an actually existing person, but they still changed the last name. The first name stayed the same though, so the nickname in the title also makes sense. He is played by Hans-Jochen Wagner, who is also by far the most known cast member here. For a film that actually aired during prime time (and still does occasionally), I'd say the cast is a bit weak. I'd have thought there would be other known actors in here. Maybe that is the reason why the only other one that caught my attention was Natalia Belitski and it was not really for her acting. Her role was too small for that overall, but let me say I can understand what Jürgen Vogel sees in her. Okay, back to the subject at hand: Basically, you can say that this movie is about a massive scam. A man with the help of others such as his brother makes a great deal of money selling complex machines that in fact never existed in the first place. This film elaborates on how this was even possible, sometimes in a dramatic fashion, sometimes with tongue-in-cheek humor, frequently with both at the same time. This is good because had the film taken itself completely seriously, then maybe it would have headed down the failure route. The outcome is still not too great I would say and this is what I was trying to say with the title of my review.
The side stories are kept at a minimum. The protagonist's disappointment that his father never has a positive word for him in the sense that he is proud of him is referenced on two occasions, but yeah it is not supposed to be an emotional movie, so probably it was the right decision to keep it low from that perspective. One thing I did not like too much was the ending really. With that I mean how everything falls apart and people realize how there is no authenticity to the man's business and that it is all about the art of make-believe. Even if it was pretty convincing make-believe. I mean they even got Arab investor on board and everybody knows hos much money there is. Certainly more than in the banana stand. Thumbs-up for you if you caught the reference. What I was actually talking about with the ending is that it felt really rushed to me. As if they recognized 5 minutes, 10 minutes max, before the closing credits rolled in that they still have to give closure here, so people would not think he is actually getting away with it all. Like as if they realized this when 80 minutes of the finished film already existed. So there it certainly could have been a better film. Other than that, the film delivers in terms of quality almostg exclusively thanks to lead actor Wagner. I did not like the movie, but I would have been totally fine with him getting awards attention for it because without him, it would have been a weaker movie even in 99% of the cases. Sure his character is no Robin Hood, but he is still likable somehow and not depicted as a miser and the ruthless crook that the character this is based on may or may not have been in real life. Actually, may or may not be as he is still alive. I read a slightly unscrupulous comment from him that the people deserved to be tricked if they fell for his scam. Okay, let's stay with the movie now. It is also a lot about the decadence that comes with it all, be it at the golf course or at the (horse) racetrack. There is also some focus in the second half on the main character's romantic relationship, but this did not do too much for me. I think the writing in terms of characters and their relationships with each other felt fairly bland most of the time, which is a bit shocking as, like I said earlier, one of the two writers is truly experienced here. Would have expected a better outcome. And scenes like the one when Manni is on the ground and we don't know if he actually collapsed or is just pretending do not really help the cause either. Sadly Wagner's performance alone is not enough to lift this film up to recommendable territory. It's a thumbs-down from me. Watch something else instead.
The side stories are kept at a minimum. The protagonist's disappointment that his father never has a positive word for him in the sense that he is proud of him is referenced on two occasions, but yeah it is not supposed to be an emotional movie, so probably it was the right decision to keep it low from that perspective. One thing I did not like too much was the ending really. With that I mean how everything falls apart and people realize how there is no authenticity to the man's business and that it is all about the art of make-believe. Even if it was pretty convincing make-believe. I mean they even got Arab investor on board and everybody knows hos much money there is. Certainly more than in the banana stand. Thumbs-up for you if you caught the reference. What I was actually talking about with the ending is that it felt really rushed to me. As if they recognized 5 minutes, 10 minutes max, before the closing credits rolled in that they still have to give closure here, so people would not think he is actually getting away with it all. Like as if they realized this when 80 minutes of the finished film already existed. So there it certainly could have been a better film. Other than that, the film delivers in terms of quality almostg exclusively thanks to lead actor Wagner. I did not like the movie, but I would have been totally fine with him getting awards attention for it because without him, it would have been a weaker movie even in 99% of the cases. Sure his character is no Robin Hood, but he is still likable somehow and not depicted as a miser and the ruthless crook that the character this is based on may or may not have been in real life. Actually, may or may not be as he is still alive. I read a slightly unscrupulous comment from him that the people deserved to be tricked if they fell for his scam. Okay, let's stay with the movie now. It is also a lot about the decadence that comes with it all, be it at the golf course or at the (horse) racetrack. There is also some focus in the second half on the main character's romantic relationship, but this did not do too much for me. I think the writing in terms of characters and their relationships with each other felt fairly bland most of the time, which is a bit shocking as, like I said earlier, one of the two writers is truly experienced here. Would have expected a better outcome. And scenes like the one when Manni is on the ground and we don't know if he actually collapsed or is just pretending do not really help the cause either. Sadly Wagner's performance alone is not enough to lift this film up to recommendable territory. It's a thumbs-down from me. Watch something else instead.
