Just saw it. Had high expectations, but this was a real disappointment.

I expected it to be very good, but it was a huge disappointment for me. The acting and script were fine, but I didn't like any of the characters or even feel any reason to care about them. But what really annoyed me the most about it was that the movie had no purpose. The film had a bit of a message about lightening up and enjoying a sense of humor every once in a while, but there really seemed to be not much else to it in the way of purpose. This is also true in terms of plot, which there wasn't much of here. It was mainly just Winfried embarrassing his daughter in a variety of situations, dispersed with scenes of the daughter's professional and personal life. It just never really added up to anything. Not to mention, the movie was tedious. I knew that it was long (it's 2 hours and 42 minutes) going in, but I don't mind long movies at all as long as they are interesting, and thus keep you engaged the whole time. With that said, given the film's lack of substance and purpose, it felt longer than it was. I didn't really get bored per se because it picks up a bit in the last act, but this was a bit of a drag. I will say that the ending was pretty good, though.

Overall, I love interesting foreign and art-house films and had been looking forward to this one, but it was a big let-down. I think it's almost hard to believe that it's getting that much Oscar buzz. 4.5/10