The film tells about this undisputed woman (Sandra Holler), who is trying to spend time with her separated father (Peter Simonishk). Her father seems to be trying to reconnect with her by creating an outrageous ego and always appearing to be a different person in her life.
At nearly three hours, "Toni Erdmann" is expansive but rarely self-indulgent, and the emotional payoff, when it comes, feels truly and bizarrely earned.
an old-fashioned father-daughter story grafted onto a none-too-subtle critique of the corporatization of Europe and the brutally hectic nature of modern life
Hüller is amusingly discombobulated as the uptight Ines. But the film is perhaps best appreciated as a showcase for the gifted Simonischek, whose portrayal of Winfried/Toni is one for the ages.
Sure enough, Andy Kaufman's prankster and premeditatedly abrasive second-self was the impetus behind this epic one-joke comedy from German writer-director Maren Ade.
Whatever Ade's intentions, her Toni Erdmann does achieve this: Syd Field or no, it offers American moviegoers a reminder of the many different ways that cinema can express itself.
Rather than setting up jokes, scoring points and swiftly moving on, Ade keeps her shots rolling past the natural beats, hindering what at its core is a road trip comedy - one that is thinly staged, shot and edited.
Toni Erdmann is so loaded with show-stopping sequences and contradictory tones that it's hard to know where to start, but I doubt anyone will ever listen to "The Greatest Love of All" again without thinking of this film. D.B.
If I could grant Maren Ade's third feature the rating it deserves, its title would be followed not by five stars but by a constellation. The Academy blew it. Toni Erdmann is by far the finest foreign language film of the past year.
"Toni Erdmann" has plenty to say about parenting, ambition, feminism and modern happiness, but not enough to justify its absurdly longwinded running time.
