No More Mr. Nice Guy (1993) User Reviews

An odd delight

[anniemnewton · 8/10 · 11 July 2006]

To disprove the old canard that Germans have no sense of humour, I highly recommend this oddball pleasure. A picaresque plot acts largely as an excuse for deadpan, often hilarious humour. And the leading performances are a delight. Perhaps a Wessi take on the strange Ossis, but a loving one. Sort of Thelma and Louise with a happy ending, (and two dumb men, rather than two sassy women...), and almost equally delectable.

The plot, what there is of it, rather loses steam by the end, but by then you're too charmed to worry overmuch. And as this film was the catalyst that sparked off my love affair with the NE of Germany, I can forgive it its occasional longueurs.

See it and reassess your prejudices about the Germans.

Germany's wild east

[matteovalsecchi · 6/10 · 13 September 2023]

The movie depicts a Road trip of a couple of Brothers travelling in East germany immediately After the unification in order to inherit a house from their grandma.

This Is supposed to be a comedy and there are Indeed some funny moments. At the same time the plot does not make a lot of sense and there are a few episodes (e.g. People gettting murdered) that would not normally appear in a comedy. The acting Is also at times not so good.

However, i found the movie extremely interesting as It shows the state of eastern germany after the DDR had ceased to exist but the soviet troops were still present, neonazism was rampant, property rights were undefined and spontaneous capitalism was blooming. A real far west in the east. Don't get me wrong, there's other movies that are set in the same Moment, like goodbye Lenin, but this Is the First i see that Is not a reconstruction, It was shot basically during that time period.

Hilarious. A must-see...

[glynnor · 10/10 · 2 February 2004]

I've watched this film a number of times, and it never ceases to amuse. The

characterizations are excellent, the story is funny, and the dialog, (despite what another reviewer says) is hilarious. It helps, I suppose, if you speak German and can hear the nuances in that language... I don't know if reading the subtitles alone communicates quite the same way. But, I see this as a classic and long for the day when it comes out in a DVD that's playable in the States.

excellent characters, terrific storyline, Detlef Buck at its best!

[frontzec · 9/10 · 30 September 1999]

A road movie in germany? Only possible when the guys cannot read, the other ones take a map and arrive within hours. This is not the only interestic idea in this movie. Two brothers on their way to their (believed golden) inheritance in eastern germany. An russian red army deserter first comes to kidnap them and the car, but soon becomes helpful on their way towards the wild east. On their way they meet strange guys who cannot swim and make bad deals for good money, but later in the end, after some more or less accidently killed people, a great escape from german police with stolen cars and horses, you find the end unspectacular but sufficient, one cannot imagine a end which fits better to that movie, but the real entertainment is the presented art of humour in some weird and crazy scenes and dialogues. For friends of humour beyond the mainstream a must see!

a historical snapshot, very funny

[andre-71 · 9/10 · 11 February 2002]

Despite minor weaknesses in the script the whole film is very funny. This is mostly due to Joachim Król's brilliantly persuasive acting. The story is somehow constructed around the obscurities of life in the east of Germany just after the reunification. So, the film can be seen as a historical snapshot of this almost forgotten time. Thus, it is a classic already.

Buck fairly underwhelming for once

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 30 December 2016]

"Wir können auch anders..." or "No More Mr. Nice Guy" or "Unternehmen Viktor" is a German 90-minute comedy from 1993, so this one is already almost 25 years old. The director is Detlev Buck, one of Germany's most successful filmmakers and he also worked on the script, namely on adapting the book by Ernst Kahl. Kahl is also not entirely unknown as he worked on the famous pretty good partially animated movie "Werner Beinhart". But back to this one here. you can probably call kit a road movie and it is (mostly) a comedy. The cast includes Joachim Król, Horst Krause and Sophie Rois and all 3 are still quite successful today, even if they may have been more famous a couple years ago, especially Król and Krause. I like other stuff I have seen from Buck, but this one here did not impress me that much. I also like him as an actor, but sadly in this one he only has a small cameo. As for Król and Krause, they aren't bad and have solid chemistry. But I am quite a fan of Krause and the fact that I only call him decent may also imply that others will be even more underwhelmed. But Konstantin Kotljarov, who plays one of the biggest characters as well left me kinda unimpressed and I am not too surprised that he did not return to film acting afterward. And my perception of Sophie Rois is that I am not a fan at all and it's difficult for me to like a film where she plays the biggest female part that involved romance of course too. So basically the other way around as I said with Krause. It's all subjective in this case. As for the plot, it's mostly comedy, but there are dramatic moments too, which is Buck's approach all the time. And there are moments when the film works and when it was a solid watch. Buck was 30 when he made this one and it was still relatively early in his career. But he was also already somewhat experienced, not just through short films. I would say Buck showed promising talent at times, but was still quite a while away from his peak. Overall, I give this film a thumbs-down and I don't recommend checking it out. It is not a failure and there aren't any really disastrous components, but it's also far from being good enough for me to suggest you to check it out.

Keep your expectations low!

[cengelm · 3/10 · 27 October 2000]

Where Stan and Ollie in WAY-OUT WEST travel west Kipp and Most who come out of a home for mental handicapped here travel east. On the road - this is supposed to be a road movie - they get involved in many episodic adventures. Pace is so slow that you won't lose track for sure. I never laughed and I didn't even know where the jokes could have been hidden. The only funny moment was when the lead said "Wir koennen auch anders". For me a waste of time.

Dialog is poor and production values, too. The lead actors manage to deliver a weird impression. For fans of DUMB AND DUMBER and maybe Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy this one is worth a try.

3 / 10.