"Nicht mein Tag" or "Not My Day" is a German 110-minute film from 2 years ago. It was written and directed by Peter Thorwarth, who is mostly known for being the writer of "Die Welle", but also a handful other famous German films from the last decades. The lead actor here is Axel Stein, pretty much the German equivalent to Jonah Hill, and I must say I am a bit baffled he was cast here. He was really famous many years ago, but his popularity has decreased a lot since then, so I am quite surprised that he was chosen as lead actor for such a prominent film. His co-lead here is Moritz Bleibtreu and he is clearly superior to Stein in terms of acting, which is painfully obvious pretty much from start to finish. Female protagonists are the mediocre Jasmin Gerat and Anna0 Maria Mühe, who is a pretty great actress, but has absolutely no material to work with here.
The novel that this film is based on was written by Ralf Husmann, the main driving force between the extraordinary German television show "Stromberg" and with his talent I wish he would have written the script himself here. I cannot imagines that he is happy with the outcome. Anyway, another major struggle I had with this movie is (the lack of) realism. We have a man taken hostage by a bank robber and lets be honest, there are no redeeming qualities about Bleibtreu's character here. Yet the bank employee and the robber become best friends within hours? I don't think so. And this is just the worst example from a handful scenes that were cringeworthy in terms of authenticity.
In the end, "Nicht mein Tag" is just another very forgettable film with a very bad script and a weak lead actor that goes for hullabaloo instead of telling a convincing story. I maybe could have tolerated it if the comedy would have been funny throughout the entire film, but it definitely wasn't, which is maybe the biggest disappointment about it. 4 stars out of 10 is still a pretty generous score. I do not recommend the watch.
The novel that this film is based on was written by Ralf Husmann, the main driving force between the extraordinary German television show "Stromberg" and with his talent I wish he would have written the script himself here. I cannot imagines that he is happy with the outcome. Anyway, another major struggle I had with this movie is (the lack of) realism. We have a man taken hostage by a bank robber and lets be honest, there are no redeeming qualities about Bleibtreu's character here. Yet the bank employee and the robber become best friends within hours? I don't think so. And this is just the worst example from a handful scenes that were cringeworthy in terms of authenticity.
In the end, "Nicht mein Tag" is just another very forgettable film with a very bad script and a weak lead actor that goes for hullabaloo instead of telling a convincing story. I maybe could have tolerated it if the comedy would have been funny throughout the entire film, but it definitely wasn't, which is maybe the biggest disappointment about it. 4 stars out of 10 is still a pretty generous score. I do not recommend the watch.