6/10
Gersak and the plot make it worth watching
10 January 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Tore's dancing and Benno's prancing in "Tore tanzt", the first full feature movie by writer and director Katrin Gebbe. This is a 2013 release, so it will have it 5th anniversary next year. The young actor who plays the title character is Julius Feldmeier and there is a reason why he did not really receive a great deal of awards attention while his film did. He is a good casting choice for the part of a modern Jesus on his very own modern Way of the Cross, but there is nothing about his performance that stands out. The MVP in this 110-minute movie is certainly Sascha Alexander Gersak. I may be a bit biased as I like him a lot as an actor in other projects too, but there is no denying how he is the (evil) heart and soul of the film, a man playing a sadistic family dad who seems to be Tore's big test when it comes to his faith and devotion to God. Yes there are scenes when this movie sacrifices a bit of realism in his attempt to be memorable through shock value, but it's fine I guess and once again Gersak is the one who needs to be thanked for making even these moments work.

But enough talk about Gersak. Another thing that makes this film an interesting watch are the references about a real case. Of course, a lot of it was added for dramatic purposes, but that's fine as after all we are not watching a documentary, but a work of fiction here. The cast does not include too many known names, but I personally felt this wasn't a problem. Sure better acting would have made this an even more rewarding watch, but lets be honest here, this film is really mostly about the story and how strange and absurd, yet reality-based, it all is. I personally also see Tore as a bit of an antagonist here, or at least a very insane person if he goes through all of this on purpose and still will not contact the police or anything. Anyway, I must say I am quite shocked by the contents here. This is definitely not an easy film to stomach and (just like me) you will not expect what is hidden behind this so harmless, almost playful title. I mean the German title of course, the English title "Nothing Bad Can Happen" has a great deal of irony attached to it eventually. So yeah, I think this was a decent film overall, even if it has weaknesses. It's certainly closer to a ** out of ***** than to a **** out of *****, but I still recommend the watch.
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