A Coffee in Berlin

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A Coffee in Berlin

2014

1h 28m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

77%

Tomatometer

52 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

A fateful day pushes an aimless college dropout (Tom Schilling) to stop wasting his time and finally engage with life.

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Critics Consensus

Amiably slight, A Coffee in Berlin compensates for its lack of narrative drive with a sure-handed screenplay and echoes of early Woody Allen.

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Martin Tsai

Los Angeles Times

In spite of its insufferably whimsical tendencies - exemplified by its original title, "Oh Boy" - the film may have turned out to be a deeply profound modern postscript about fascism.

Dec 23, 2014

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Peter Keough

Boston Globe

Niko's problem is not just that he's spoiled and lazy, but that he's a wimp about it. He only maintains viewer sympathy because everyone else in the film is so obnoxious.

Rated: 2/4

Jul 10, 2014

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Stephanie Merry

Washington Post

It manages to make an entertaining story out of nothing in particular. And just when you get comfortable passively observing a passive observer, the minutest of twists becomes its own call to action.

Rated: 3/4

Jul 10, 2014

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Michael J. Casey

Michael J. Cinema

A somber tale told with jazz, blues, black and white photography, and an incredible performance from Schilling.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 20, 2021

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Bernard Boo

Way Too Indie

A largely enjoyable, understated picture that will tickle those with a taste for DIY indies and the French New Wave.

Rated: 7/10

Mar 28, 2019

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Stephen Saito

Moveable Fest

With a lighter touch than that strained metaphor might suggest, Gerster has considerably better navigational skills than his main protagonist, making "A Coffee in Berlin" an enjoyable romp.

Nov 20, 2018

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Abe A

Good movie, not great. Easy on the eye, not profound but very easy to watch, funny at times. Shades of Woody Allen. One I'd rewatch for pleasure.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/24/24

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Marcos M

Great acting, really good portrait of Berlin

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/05/23

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Kevin L

A bit interesting and engaging at times, tedious at others. "A Coffee In Berlin" gives us a nice performance by Tom Schilling as a character I'm familiar with. I've seen quite a few Nicos in my time. The specific qualities he conveys- lost or confused, great indifference, flakiness, forced attempts at interaction- are typical of a lot of this type of slacker guy with little or no sense of real direction or purpose. As I said, though, there is some tedium here. It really seems like a rather jagged, unconnected scenes edited together, though there is some flow when the Julika character is introduced. This is the best stretch of the film for me. Her character is interesting and certainly offers Nico a chance at establishing something real and significant in his life. Who knows what it could lead to? But, he blows that, too. Nice work by Dohnányi, Klawitter, and Hoseman. But the best performance for me was Friederike Kempter's Julika. Kempster brings to life a lithe, lovely, and brimming young woman with sense of nervous joy in life. Nice if uneven. 2.9 stars

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/13/23

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Audience Member

Beautiful movie. Funny, poignant, and poetic.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/03/23

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Audience Member

Lots of layers here and all in search of a cup of coffee.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Audience Member

A dialogue driven film where the slacker protagonist drifts away in Berlin. He meet many people, he go many places and everywhere there are loads of words. Shot in black and white, nicely scored and a gentle humor makes it snappy and interesting. It reminds me a lot of something the younger Jarmuch would do. Some very smooth shots - especially in the end where the short stills appear rapidly. With some works of graffiti artist Blu on the screen too. Nice. I liked it, but it felt rather long even with a short playime. I've read it was a graduation project - that's pretty impressive, even if it's not especially fresh or original. 6.5 out of 10 meatballs.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

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Jan-Ole Gerster

Director

Tom Schilling

Niko Fischer

Katharina Schüttler

Elli

Justus von Dohnányi

Karl Speckenbach

Marc Hosemann

Matze

Friederike Kempter

Julika Hoffmann

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Synopsis

A fateful day pushes an aimless college dropout (Tom Schilling) to stop wasting his time and finally engage with life.

Director: Jan-Ole Gerster
Producer: Marcos Kantis, Birgit Kämper, Martin Lehwald, Jörg Himstedt
Screenwriter: Jan-Ole Gerster
Distributor: Music Box Films
Production Co: Chromosom Filmproduktion, Arte, Schiwago Film GmbH, Hessischer Rundfunk
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 20, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 6, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $146.1K
Runtime: 1h 28m

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