Robbie Shepherd
almost 9 years
ago
Easy to watch again and again, with good laughs. Way better than the usual hollywood crap.
"Until now, German director Fatih Akin has been known for hard-hitting, streetwise movies that only occasionally take a moment to swoon into lyricism. Mostly, films like Head-On and The Edge of Heaven are bracing and resolutely real. Well, Akin's mood must have brightened this year, because while Soul Kitchen is directed with as much strength and confidence as ever, it's a loose-limbed, house party of a comedy.
Zinos Kazantzakis (Adam Bousdoukos) runs Soul Kitchen, a vast warehouse diner where the food might be spectacularly bad, but it's edible. Regulars show up every day to chow down on bland lumps of carbs washed down by cheap beer. Beats sitting at home.
Zinos seems to have a knack for bad luck, but he's used to it. His girlfriend flies off to China for an extended stay. His brother (Moritz Bleibtreu) finally gets out of jail and drags all of Hamburg's trouble into the restaurant. Then the sour-faced tax collector shows up. What would happen if Zinos went looking for the city's...