Franz Beckenbauer's personal manager Robert Schwan once said "there are only two intelligent men in this world - Schwan am and Schwan pm". Unfortunately, his famous client seemed to believe that he himself was even smarter, reinforced early in his career by some cheeky journalist who coined the nickname "Kaiser Franz". And "Der Kaiser" is another piece of promotional material for a talented footballer whose dark sides, if they are mentioned at all, are treated like they were harmless pranks committed by a lovable rogue. Beckenbauer's shady role in Germany's 2006 world cup bid or his ridiculously ignorant rants in favor of the 2022 Qatar "Qatastrophe" are not part of the plot; it ends with the 1990 world cup in Italy. Overall the movie feels like a succession of cheap comedy skids with questionable casting choices, shameless overacting, chronological errors and way too much hero worshiping.
Review of Der Kaiser
