“The nickname” brings amusing family chaos
Published: Thursday, Dec 12th 2024, 11:20
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At Christmas time, the movie "The Nickname" provides comfort for all those who are blessed with annoying relatives. Starring: Iris Berben, Christoph Maria Herbst and Florian David Fitz.
Peace, joy and Christmas? Not necessarily. Because when the family gets together over the holidays, love is often not very far away. The new comedy "The Nickname" by German director Sönke Wortmann promises distraction and consolation.
The comedy is also about a family reunion. It takes place on the occasion of a wedding in an Alpine hotel - and slowly but surely goes off the rails. A prominent ensemble including Iris Berben, Christoph Maria Herbst and Florian David Fitz is on top form when it comes to getting on the nerves of the dear relatives - or even getting one over on them.
The foreign shame of children
Anna (Janina Uhse) and Thomas (Florian David Fitz) have invited guests to a posh Alpine resort in Tyrol for their wedding on a winter weekend. This causes gloating among Thomas' brother-in-law Stephan (Christoph Maria Herbst), who thinks it's bragging and believes himself to be superior to everyone in terms of education, much to the chagrin of his wife Elisabeth (Caroline Peters). Dorothea (Iris Berben), mother of Elisabeth and Thomas, is also annoyed, as her husband René (Justus von Dohnányi) only revolves around their three-year-old twins like a helicopter.
After the previous films "The First Name" (2018) and "The Last Name" (2022), "The Nickname" adds another aspect: the perspective of young people. Stephan and Elisabeth's children Cajus (Jona Volkmann) and Antigone (Kya-Celina Barucki) are now 18 and 17 years old and suffer above all from their father's unspeakable remarks, who insistently corrects every grammatical inaccuracy. He has nothing but contempt for politically correct or gender-sensitive language. A heated debate ensues, one of many.
Riding around with relish
As in the first two parts of the trilogy, you watch the Berger-Böttcher-König-Wittmanns clash with all their quirks, expectations, longings, demands and egos. And how they - often with relish - ride around on each other's sensitivities.
The debate about a nickname only serves as a hook, triggered by the bride Anna. She accuses Thomas of usually calling daughter Paula Paulchen. Anna's accusation: he would probably have preferred to have a son. A sentence that her niece Antigone, called Tigi, can't let stand: "How do you actually know that Paula is a girl? Maybe Paula is non-binary".
A lot of strain for the family ties. Wortmann ("Das Wunder von Bern", "Frau Müller muss weg") stages these contrasting characters with ease and precision, unleashing a joy that is infectious. The script by Claudius Pläging, who writes for the "Carolin Kebekus Show", offers the best conditions for this. His dialog is pointed, cheeky, authentic and very amusing. The Grimme Award winner has used his wit to create multi-layered characters who, despite their annoying idiosyncrasies and sensitivities, are always endearing and charming.
A consolation in the chaos
Overall, the turbulent story is an amusing ensemble film with a comforting insight for people with annoying relatives: things aren't any better in other families. When it comes down to it, the similarities outweigh the differences and everything falls into place, somehow and sometimes by necessity. Or as know-it-all Stephan explains to his family: "You don't have to be a prophet to predict that we'll often meet, argue and make up again.
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