14 Days to Life (1997) User Reviews

How law fails

[DickVG · 9/10 · 1 May 2001]

Indeed this movie from Roland Suso Richter is a masterpiece, illustrating perfectly that the law nowadays is not always about right judgements and that everyone with some brains is capable to misinform or mislead the judges. Except of the performances of the main character played by Kai Wiesinger, where the yuppie lawyer is not convincing I was under impression of the achievements of Michael Mendl playing Czernetzky the prisoner. I can not understand that such movie was not presented for any festival, it sure had won several prizes.

Very unrealistic and disappointing

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 3 August 2016]

"14 Tage lebenslänglich" or "14 Days to Life" is a German(-language) film from 1997, so it will have its 20th anniversary next year. The director is Roland Suso Richter and the writer is Holger Karsten Schmidt. Both are enjoying fairly prolific and successful career without being among the most known or most awarded in their respective fields. I have seen other stuff from them and there's some good and some bad stuff I guess. This is the story of Konrad von Seidlitz, a lawyer who has to go to jail for a minor offense, but is framed and apparently has to end up in there for a really long time because somebody made it look as if he was in the possession of cocaine, which of course fir very well with how people saw him. Rich man = rich man's drug, right? A bit of a stereotype really. And sadly, this is a major problem in this film. It's easy to see how ambitious they were with the script and how they wanted it to be very relevant from a story-telling perspective and attempted to make the film full of suspense. But this film is exactly what happens when an ambitious writer does not have the talent to fulfill his ambition. The outcome is a wild, unfocused mess that lacks realism from start to finish. Instead it offers the audience one cheap thrill after the other. I must say I am baffled by this movie's success with awards bodies, but at least none of it came for its writing. Also I must say that I never considered Kai Wiesinger a particularly gifted actor and this film being one of his most known solidifies my opinion. He reunited with Roland Suso Richter to years later for a Nazi-themed film. I will probably watch that one on some occasions too, but this one here does not get me curious about the slightly more recent work from the duo at all. Mendl was solid I guess overall, maybe the best thing about the film, but I believe that he was not too great either, probably not awards-worthy. The film's huge problem is that it wanted to be so much, but turned out so little. The story about the protagonist being an unlikable elitist snob early on and turning into a likable man with character felt downright ridiculous. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

Feel in jail, but never bored!

[amikus2000 · 10/10 · 24 July 2000]

Never being in jail, this perfect psycho shocker enabled new views on life inside a jail-house in 'humanistic countries' to me. This adult toxic movie is more a psycho than a criminal. If you have turned off the lights, 'Ramon's' and 'Chernetzky's' actions suppress you. Best of the new talent, director Roland Suso Richter.

Of the life in prison.

[lionel.willoquet · 22 July 2001]

Condemned in fourteen days of detention to have refused to pay his fines, an arrogant lawyer sees his prison stay going on unexpectedly. The interpretation, convincing, is the best trump card of this small thriller of fair invoice at the idea of departure schemer but in the uneven suspense.