Aki Kaurismäki with the Wiener Schmäh dialect - thinking about it there's no better fit imaginable (a small bet: when this hits european cinemas 75% of the first 50 reviews on here will have the finnish fuddy-duddys name attached to it).an old codger about lived nostalgia, past times & fond memories; about old Vienna's slowly removed identity & capitalist realities steamrolling over people's existence. it's clumsy, it's twee, it's heartfelt. a film bursting of laconism and dry stoicism. Covi's & Frimmel's dramedy is like a cup of black tea with rock sugar on a rainy, depressing day. something no one will seriously be able to hate on, which also means a safe space in every regard. easy to tell, Wim Wenders might have shed some tears and will make sure this one will get one of the silver bears, if it's the last thing he'll do. (edit: he actually chose the other, apparently way more conventional jazz movie from the US for the director's bear i was anticipating for Big Al. lame Wimmy, lame!).
