This wasn't a bad movie. The german setting gives it a different energy, it's well acted and the story is well told. The rise and fall of the main character plays on different levels of his life and this makes him a character you come to know and like. But the movie feels like a long episode of a TV show. Nothing wrong with that ofcourse, but therefor I agree with the 5.7 rating here on IMDb.
38 Reviews
Okay for a German Movie
annikanasel20 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Sadly in "Rising High" it often seems like the producers took pieces of other movies and puzzled them randomly all together. For example the Montage-Scenes: they have been way too unspectacular to level up the movie. The Renovation scene for example had much more potential, when it would have been filmed way more dynamic.
The narrative structure had a big "Who am I"-vibe. While in that movie all the backdrops do have a use for the story, here it clearly doesn't. In the end, it only left's questions on the viewers mind, like what the hell is that journalist even for?
Summed up "Rising High" is a nice movie to dabble in. Yes, here hasn't been created anything new, but when it comes down to German movies all there is: little steps are better than none.
A mashup of two movies
lucluc-6300319 April 2020
I noticed two different movie references that could possibly have inspired this plot, 'Catch Me If You Can' (2002) and 'The Big Short' (2015). Perhaps the only reference to 'The Wolf of Wall Street' (2013) happend after 1 hour and 8 minutes.
Rise and fall scheme from germany.
searchanddestroy-16 June 2020
I was very satisfied by this agreeable German comedy drama flick, whi other users seem not to appreciate that much. I have Always craved for rise and fall schemes. here this is pretty well done for my taste. i Don't need that much more to be pleased. The mechanism of all those scams is interesting. The lead character's sidekick, reminds me Gene Hackman in the sixties; I would have imagined him playing this kind of role in a performance of his early career. maybe because the German actor wears the same kind of hat Hackman had in FRENCH CONNECTION. But the scene of the crooks asking an old an to sign documents for an apartment, is one of the highlights of this film; the Gene Hackman double present at the same table is laughable; who would trust an estate agent in company with such a man, looking so much like a crook? I would never answer him asking about the time...ha ha ha
A recommendend German Wolf of Wallstreet clone
sorendanni29 December 2021
A recommended German Wolf of Wallstreet clone
I enjoyed Rising High aka Betonrausch. It is a German mixture of comedy and drama. As far as I know the story is fictional, but it is presented as if it actually happened. It is the story of a young businessman who becomes very rich very quickly through fraud and deception and then very quickly loses everything again. It is reminiscent of The Wolf of Wall Street, without Betonrausch ever reaching the quality of the Hollywood blockbuster.
But nevertheless a very affordable German film. Germany is not known for their jokes and humor, but the understated light comic style works well for this film. Characters are explored just enough and the film never gets boring. And furthermore, all the glam from The Wolf of Wall Street is represented: fast cars, expensive tailor-made suits, large villas, wild parties and the necessary drugs. It is beautifully portrayed, with a good soundtrack. The acting is okay.
For fans of The Wolf of Wall Street quite a recommended film on Netflix. So a well deserved 7.
I enjoyed Rising High aka Betonrausch. It is a German mixture of comedy and drama. As far as I know the story is fictional, but it is presented as if it actually happened. It is the story of a young businessman who becomes very rich very quickly through fraud and deception and then very quickly loses everything again. It is reminiscent of The Wolf of Wall Street, without Betonrausch ever reaching the quality of the Hollywood blockbuster.
But nevertheless a very affordable German film. Germany is not known for their jokes and humor, but the understated light comic style works well for this film. Characters are explored just enough and the film never gets boring. And furthermore, all the glam from The Wolf of Wall Street is represented: fast cars, expensive tailor-made suits, large villas, wild parties and the necessary drugs. It is beautifully portrayed, with a good soundtrack. The acting is okay.
For fans of The Wolf of Wall Street quite a recommended film on Netflix. So a well deserved 7.
Not as high as it could have.
filmsbyq6 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Rising High is just okay. It suffers from being far too similar, despite what some might say, to Wolf of Wall Street. Viktor is a dreamer and a salesman by any means necessary. He falls into the life of easy money and dodgy dealings in an effort not to be poor, something that he feels contributed to his parents' divorce.
Written and directed by Cüneyt Kaya, Rising High is a good looking film and well-directed even as it flits from interview to the story being told. The acting is good from all on show. Unfortunately, IMDB does not list the names of all the actors in the film. The central three are listed but the actor who plays his father is not. Strange.
That aside, the acting from all is really good and you believe all of the performances. The party scenes are brilliantly shot and look like the sort of parties you only hear about or read about. The same as the brothel, which given it seemed to be filmed in the tiniest of spaces, was quite impressive.
Kaya is a good visual director. The story is just so so. It is not bad or even poorly told but it does not, in the way of the aforementioned Wolf of Wall Street, have you rooting for the protagonist. The most niggly thing about the film is the weakness of the story. The casting is good, every person looking the part they are playing and the music and sound are good.
It is just the pedestrian story that lets it down. Rising High at ninety-four minutes long, is not a long film but unless you are a huge fan of German cinema, it is not a must-see.
Written and directed by Cüneyt Kaya, Rising High is a good looking film and well-directed even as it flits from interview to the story being told. The acting is good from all on show. Unfortunately, IMDB does not list the names of all the actors in the film. The central three are listed but the actor who plays his father is not. Strange.
That aside, the acting from all is really good and you believe all of the performances. The party scenes are brilliantly shot and look like the sort of parties you only hear about or read about. The same as the brothel, which given it seemed to be filmed in the tiniest of spaces, was quite impressive.
Kaya is a good visual director. The story is just so so. It is not bad or even poorly told but it does not, in the way of the aforementioned Wolf of Wall Street, have you rooting for the protagonist. The most niggly thing about the film is the weakness of the story. The casting is good, every person looking the part they are playing and the music and sound are good.
It is just the pedestrian story that lets it down. Rising High at ninety-four minutes long, is not a long film but unless you are a huge fan of German cinema, it is not a must-see.
7
Edvis-199726 April 2020
Ze Hündchen of Wall Street
ctz-118 April 2020
The main problem is not that this is a very obvious wanna-be Wolf of Wall Street (without any of its cleverness) or that neither real estate nor banks nor any of this works as shown here. No, the problem is that the film constantly tells us how convincing and charming the main character is without ever proving it in a believable way. The story just goes along with it but none of it works because the main character does not. The fact that it's supposedly based on a real story makes me think that the script took a lot of liberties with the actual story.
Interesting topics
jordymadueno17 September 2020
It's a fictional story about real state scams that use very unrealistic strategies but it has some interesting aspects like psychological influence from the parents, family context, and leaps of faith in the business world. I believe it's a teaching on the mistakes made between business life and family life.
Beyond stupid
tanujisha18 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
This is by far one of the worst movies I have watched lately. I expected something like "Bad Banks", since the topic of fraudulent real estate transactions can be interesting and thrilling. But the director and the script didn't manage to live up to the expectations. The script is super bad and shallow, the actors are mediocre and the way the topic was approached is so full of nonsense that I was barely able to watch till the end. From time to time there was even a feeling of embarrasement creeping in. As another review already stated, none of this would have ever worked out the way it was protrayed. I do not believe this is based on a true story, it's too easy, too dumb. Corrupt court employees, corrupt bankers? Bribery? In germany? Seriously, I still feel embarrased by the thought of this infantile plot. The 'story' is just a combination of weird events (e.g. the lovely main chracters decide on a company take-over in next to no time in a brief meeting and force the attendants - employees of the just 'acquired' company - to sing "Oh du Fröhliche" just seconds later or else they'd get fired - yeah it's that bad!) ... and can't believe I watched it till the end.
I'll give this 2 stars as the main character was pretty cute and his suits were easy on the eyes.
I'll give this 2 stars as the main character was pretty cute and his suits were easy on the eyes.
OUTSTANDING FILM.
benighted20051 July 2020
What is not to like about this film? I can't for the life of me understand the poor reviews. Yes, there is some exaggeration but the amount of things it manages to achieve in a mere 90 minutes is pure finesse and awe inspiring. Likeable protagonist, decent story, outstanding execution. I loved it. The energy is infectious and the music was amazing.
+ Music + Acting + 90 odd minutes of energy + Great viewing
+ Music + Acting + 90 odd minutes of energy + Great viewing
Rising and/or falling
kosmasp19 May 2020
German movies have a certain flair and a certain flavor to them. There are some preconceived ideas too. Something like this tries eagerly to copy a formula that the US has really done well. The little man struggling but finding a way to rise to the top ... having issues with things he has done or the connections he has made over the years.
There are cliches being used and the story is quite predictable. Overall still a decent effort and enjoyable to a degree. Might not meet the criteria some have or expect from Netflix, but what can you do? It is what it is as Seinfeld might say (or many others for that matter)
There are cliches being used and the story is quite predictable. Overall still a decent effort and enjoyable to a degree. Might not meet the criteria some have or expect from Netflix, but what can you do? It is what it is as Seinfeld might say (or many others for that matter)
Thank you, next.
uselprod18 April 2020
This film tries hard to be something it isn't - good.
It is a cheap version of Wolf of Wall Street, with mediocre direction, one dimentional characters and mostly bad acting. The main character is supposed to be a charismatic, sly and goodlooking Leo DiCaprio type of guy, but doesn't deliver on that.
And don't even get me started on the script and the cringeworthy dialogues.
Subtlety isn't this film's strenght. But then again, not much is.
Not worth the time.
lucalorenzo1421 April 2020
Let me start with a positive aspect of the movie. The notorious Till Schweiger isn't part of it. A german movie without him is always a big plus in my books. On the other hand however this is a genuinely bad movie.
Just imagine Wolf of Wallstreet but in bad.
unusual and german white collar verbreche en masse.
ops-5253518 April 2020
I will call this quite original, in german movie standards, its all comes to the question of money, how to do it, how to boost it , who to play fraudulent games against, and at the same time keep up the appearances in love and life.
its a genial story, with a fast shifting plot, where the whole story are flashbacks to the past during an interview made in prison. the twists and the spontaniousity are fun, the main actors are cute and high quality acting, the score are as usual electronica the german style with some extreme rythm sections that catches the spiritual wibes in the film.
so if you like the silent kind of heist, or fraud or racketeering or whatever its called without a kill and a bloody gore, but a fun and ingenious money making caracter, then the grumpy old man can recommend.
its a genial story, with a fast shifting plot, where the whole story are flashbacks to the past during an interview made in prison. the twists and the spontaniousity are fun, the main actors are cute and high quality acting, the score are as usual electronica the german style with some extreme rythm sections that catches the spiritual wibes in the film.
so if you like the silent kind of heist, or fraud or racketeering or whatever its called without a kill and a bloody gore, but a fun and ingenious money making caracter, then the grumpy old man can recommend.
Kind of RTL-II-level
fischer-0606325 April 2020
Simple, one-dimensional story. No depth in the figures. I rated the movie with three just to show a kind of friendlyness for the fact that they at least tried to create something interesting. But I can not understand why Netflix is promoting such an RTL-II level. They should better had made a serial out of it and gave all the main characters more time to develop and the fraud more cleverness and double and triple levels. Such simple bribes and frauds as shown in this movie are so far from both reality and originalness. I really was on the edge of not watching until the end and I have to resume that the whole movie finally just was a waste of time.
Painful visit to the banker
rfproductions-467-9060817 May 2020
The film is typically German and that in the most negative sense imaginable. The dialogues seem to be copy-pasted from the most uncreative, blandest German evening series. The story itself seems interesting, but is completely overshadowed by the bad script, where nothing fits together. The camera work falls far short of its possibilities and seems outdated, even though the film is supposed to be from 2020. Especially the contourless leading actor, who seems more like the quiet banker from the town bank counter shortly after his apprenticeship, is supposed to play a cunning, charismatic financial swindler. It seems as if Woody Allen should embody the Terminator. The rest of the characters are just as much based on German TV stereotypes that it hurts. Even the fact that of all people the only two justice officials who get beyond a mere extra role have a clear migration background feels like well-intentioned, badly implemented and therefore grandiosely failed, which can also be used as an overall verdict on the movie.
If you are thinking about watching this film: Don't do it. Watch Wolf of Wall Street for the 20th time. The quality of this film has nothing to do with recent German successes such as Dark or Babylon Berlin; A very bad relapse into the dark television times of 10 years ago.
If you are thinking about watching this film: Don't do it. Watch Wolf of Wall Street for the 20th time. The quality of this film has nothing to do with recent German successes such as Dark or Babylon Berlin; A very bad relapse into the dark television times of 10 years ago.
Jeez, what a mess
mablingo20 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Once again a german production, that tries to hide it multiple, multiple flaws with some fancy locations and an electronical soundtrack.
Bad (cause no) character development, implausable storyline,...so superficial. Theres just so much unrealistic stuff in there that wouldnt work out in reality. Its not just at some points. Its starts right away like that and then its a sequence of "nah, i dont think so, director". The main character is meant to be a guy that can sell you anything just with his smile and good looks. But he looks like a 20 year old babyface and lacks charisma. Accompanied by his shady lil gangsta looking partner (F. Lau, which i use to like) its a team i would never ever trust and spend my money on. He rents a penthouse in berlin with just a printed working contract, and the retail woman is like fallen in love instantly additionally. Yeah, that makes sense...
Just turn it on for 15 min and you know it. But better...dont turn it on.
The well known german actors must have been paid very good. Cause you can not read that script and think "oh yeah thats well written".
What a messed up Wannabe Wolf of Wallstreet. Its so bad that i - although i did not pay for it - felt angry... maybe cause i dont want to believe that anyone would finance that stuff voluntarily.
Bad (cause no) character development, implausable storyline,...so superficial. Theres just so much unrealistic stuff in there that wouldnt work out in reality. Its not just at some points. Its starts right away like that and then its a sequence of "nah, i dont think so, director". The main character is meant to be a guy that can sell you anything just with his smile and good looks. But he looks like a 20 year old babyface and lacks charisma. Accompanied by his shady lil gangsta looking partner (F. Lau, which i use to like) its a team i would never ever trust and spend my money on. He rents a penthouse in berlin with just a printed working contract, and the retail woman is like fallen in love instantly additionally. Yeah, that makes sense...
Just turn it on for 15 min and you know it. But better...dont turn it on.
The well known german actors must have been paid very good. Cause you can not read that script and think "oh yeah thats well written".
What a messed up Wannabe Wolf of Wallstreet. Its so bad that i - although i did not pay for it - felt angry... maybe cause i dont want to believe that anyone would finance that stuff voluntarily.
Berlin pretending to be LA
pawelpap21 April 2020
Stupid
hirnibirni20 April 2020
The Kittens of Wall Street
Pumpiiiiiiiii28 April 2020
first german movie I like
lucatabone-3504519 April 2020
Netflixs strategy
kasperfotball22 April 2022
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