"Goliath96" is a German theatrical release from 2019 that premiered back in 2018 already and this runs for slightly over 100 minutes in the version I saw. The director is Marcus Richardt, who was born in the GDR, but has a pretty international film career from what his body of work sounds like in terms of the title, even if he is not evel close to being super prolific. This one here he wrote as well or I should say "co-wrote" because he collaborated with Thomas Grabowsky and it was not the first time these two worked on a film together. The big name in the cast is not the one behind the mask on the poster here on imdb, but it's Katja Riemann who plays said character's mother. One of Germany's most famous actresses. I have never really bought the hype with her though and this film we got here surely did not win me over either. She had an okay moment here and there, but generally it is the same problem as always. With her films it always seems to be the case that she wants to be going for something truly deep and meaningful, even when it is "only" comedy, but almost always she comes short and her performances are not helping the movie either, but rather make it worse then. As for the supporting cast, many may recognized Jasmin Tabatabai, but her role is really a nothing character and if there is something that stays in the mind, then it may be the fairly embarrassing Star Trek costume scene. Austrian actor David Wurawa was maybe brought in for diversity reasons, but his character felt equally forgettable and you have to dig really deep to find purpose in him. I guess he was a way to express her delight as she got closer to her son. Or at least she thought she did. But the subplots and minor characters really could (no, should) have been much better. Rovira-Munoz (I guess we can call him lead as well as his screen time increases as the film goes on) reminded me of Macaulay Culkin physically and he is the least experienced from the fairly small cast, but in terms of range, there was also not too much to his character as you could think there would be. And finally Elisa Schlott is always easy on the eye (and it means something if I say so with my preference for dark-haired girls), but in terms of performance and character I am still a bit undecided if I liked her. Admittedly, there was not too much to her either.
I guess the reasons that this got seen are Riemann on the one hand and the internet chat reference on the other hand. I would not call the film a failure, but weaknesses feel much more frequent than strengths. I mean the young man is isolated and lonely, but with his mental illness, it is just really hard to accept some things as credible here. That he tells her he loves her. That he suggests a meeting when he can barely leave his room. That he basically wants to have cam sex when they first see each other. I mean a crush can only justify so much. On the other end of the internet connection, there were also issues with Riemann's character. I don't think it felt credible really that she would accept the video call. Accepting the meeting I can only understand if she had the idea of sending the young woman from the very start, but I don't think she did. Again, it can be said that the woman's longing to get closer to her son can only justify so much. In terms of Schlott's character I liked how she is not quickly best friends with Riemann's character or something after their not so pleasant first meeting and conversation. A bit difficult to believe in the end she accepts showing up at the meeting, but it's not one of the film's biggest weaknesses. The way the boy finds out at the end could certainly have been handled in a more credible manner, also with how clumsy Riemann's character was in not switching off her computer or in letting the kite instruction out in the open. I mean she did not think her son would walk around in her room, but still. Yep, kites play a bit of a role in this film. If you love flying them, you will maybe enjoy these quotes the most.
The kinda open ending out there in the morning was not a bad shot, but the substance behind it is really questionable again. No other people. Him finding her right there. Him not baing angry enough to stay in his room forever etc. I guess it can to some extent be interpretet as a happy ending as he is at least outside and this was thanks to his mother's messages and he built trust to his chat partner this way, even if it isn't the stunning young woman he hoped it would be. But again, the weaknesses are more glaring. Like the power outage at the same time. I understand that Riemann's character did not think further and ask him where he went, but he could have gotten a little skeptical of course. Or especially when he hears the phone ringing or something in the house when it happens right on his computer screen as well. He is skeptical there, but forgets it within seconds apparently although it was so extremely obvious. Once again difficult to believe that very moment, no matter how much he may have been crushing there already. Nudity is also a factor in this film and this refers to Riemann's breasts (of course she is desired by a younger man too) and the son's genital. I guess this scene may also have been a reason why they did not get a more famous, more experienced young actor. Edgy stuff still. But this was not one of the film's biggest probably at all. Actually, it kinda made sense with his fantasy of her and how he was falling for her a bit at that point already. At least he was sexually attracted.
Overall, as you cans ee from the title of my review, I do believe this film had the potential for more. It did come short though. They could have kept it more essential with keeping out the mother's romance for example or just included more convincing subplot as I stated earlier already. Or just keep it completely between these two and have the film run for 80 minutes only. Would have been definitely the better solution than 100 or even 110 minutes with unrealistic and forgettable characters and scenes. Oh yeah, also one thing that did almost nothing for me were those flashback scenes. They were more often in the first half of the film, but I still think they did not add half the depth or creativity or emotion when it comes to thinking back to happier times the way it was intended. An artistic fail shot even for the most part. Early on two or three times max would have been really enough, but not needed as a recurring theme throughout the film. So there were weaknesses in writing for sure. The direction was maybe the film's biggest strength. The acting somewhere in-between maybe. Story is key though and as a consequence I have to give this film a thumbs.down overall. Not recommended and I suggest you skip the watch here and go for something else instead. There was just too much wrong and honestly this kind of disorder deserved much better elaboration than a simple idea like he feels misunderstood by everybody and cannot keep up with the world around him and mother does not understand him either as he tell the (as he thinks) young chat partner at the other end of the connection. Now that is really it. This film is luckily not ARD Degeto level, but honestly from a big screen release I expect more. I am sure many other countries could have delivered a more fulfilling and more interesting and more authentic outcome here. Germany is sadly pretty far behind in almost every genre these days except maybe historic movies and, to some extent, children's (non-animated) movies. Nothing has changed since 2018 there. Or since 2010 you could say as well.
I guess the reasons that this got seen are Riemann on the one hand and the internet chat reference on the other hand. I would not call the film a failure, but weaknesses feel much more frequent than strengths. I mean the young man is isolated and lonely, but with his mental illness, it is just really hard to accept some things as credible here. That he tells her he loves her. That he suggests a meeting when he can barely leave his room. That he basically wants to have cam sex when they first see each other. I mean a crush can only justify so much. On the other end of the internet connection, there were also issues with Riemann's character. I don't think it felt credible really that she would accept the video call. Accepting the meeting I can only understand if she had the idea of sending the young woman from the very start, but I don't think she did. Again, it can be said that the woman's longing to get closer to her son can only justify so much. In terms of Schlott's character I liked how she is not quickly best friends with Riemann's character or something after their not so pleasant first meeting and conversation. A bit difficult to believe in the end she accepts showing up at the meeting, but it's not one of the film's biggest weaknesses. The way the boy finds out at the end could certainly have been handled in a more credible manner, also with how clumsy Riemann's character was in not switching off her computer or in letting the kite instruction out in the open. I mean she did not think her son would walk around in her room, but still. Yep, kites play a bit of a role in this film. If you love flying them, you will maybe enjoy these quotes the most.
The kinda open ending out there in the morning was not a bad shot, but the substance behind it is really questionable again. No other people. Him finding her right there. Him not baing angry enough to stay in his room forever etc. I guess it can to some extent be interpretet as a happy ending as he is at least outside and this was thanks to his mother's messages and he built trust to his chat partner this way, even if it isn't the stunning young woman he hoped it would be. But again, the weaknesses are more glaring. Like the power outage at the same time. I understand that Riemann's character did not think further and ask him where he went, but he could have gotten a little skeptical of course. Or especially when he hears the phone ringing or something in the house when it happens right on his computer screen as well. He is skeptical there, but forgets it within seconds apparently although it was so extremely obvious. Once again difficult to believe that very moment, no matter how much he may have been crushing there already. Nudity is also a factor in this film and this refers to Riemann's breasts (of course she is desired by a younger man too) and the son's genital. I guess this scene may also have been a reason why they did not get a more famous, more experienced young actor. Edgy stuff still. But this was not one of the film's biggest probably at all. Actually, it kinda made sense with his fantasy of her and how he was falling for her a bit at that point already. At least he was sexually attracted.
Overall, as you cans ee from the title of my review, I do believe this film had the potential for more. It did come short though. They could have kept it more essential with keeping out the mother's romance for example or just included more convincing subplot as I stated earlier already. Or just keep it completely between these two and have the film run for 80 minutes only. Would have been definitely the better solution than 100 or even 110 minutes with unrealistic and forgettable characters and scenes. Oh yeah, also one thing that did almost nothing for me were those flashback scenes. They were more often in the first half of the film, but I still think they did not add half the depth or creativity or emotion when it comes to thinking back to happier times the way it was intended. An artistic fail shot even for the most part. Early on two or three times max would have been really enough, but not needed as a recurring theme throughout the film. So there were weaknesses in writing for sure. The direction was maybe the film's biggest strength. The acting somewhere in-between maybe. Story is key though and as a consequence I have to give this film a thumbs.down overall. Not recommended and I suggest you skip the watch here and go for something else instead. There was just too much wrong and honestly this kind of disorder deserved much better elaboration than a simple idea like he feels misunderstood by everybody and cannot keep up with the world around him and mother does not understand him either as he tell the (as he thinks) young chat partner at the other end of the connection. Now that is really it. This film is luckily not ARD Degeto level, but honestly from a big screen release I expect more. I am sure many other countries could have delivered a more fulfilling and more interesting and more authentic outcome here. Germany is sadly pretty far behind in almost every genre these days except maybe historic movies and, to some extent, children's (non-animated) movies. Nothing has changed since 2018 there. Or since 2010 you could say as well.
