Offroad

Life in a small town runs smoothly for Meike Pelzer (Nora Tschirner). Her studies are finished, her wedding to her long-term boyfriend Philip (Max von Pufendorf) is firmly planned and taking over the family business is really just a formality. But Meike wants more from her life. A small rebellion against her rather stuffy environment is already indicated by the purchase of a rather embarrassing jeep that was confiscated by customs at the German-Dutch border. But when Meike catches Philip making love to her best friend Denise (Nora Binder), the quiet life is over. With a loud shitty coffee on her lips, Meike leaves her home in her new jeep and sets off for a new life. However, she does not suspect that this could be quite short. Because there are 50 kilos of cocaine hidden in the jeep and the real owners of the stuff want it back at any price. When the helpful Salim (Elyas M`Barek) gets involved in her story and with it in Meike`s life, the girl from the countryside has finally strayed from the path of her firmly planned life and is heading offroad towards the abyss...

Offroad lives from its very nice basic idea and from the still not extinguished charm of Nora Tschirner. She is also the one who carries the film for long stretches and saves it from being written off as a complete disappointment. The first scenes in Meike's hometown Geilenkirchen amusingly play with the typical small town clichés and reveal the comedic potential of the film. This is also played out well during the first encounter between Meike and Salim. But more and more often it becomes noticeable that the comedy lacks a crucial ingredient: Timing!

More and more good gags build up, which then either come to nothing or are too overused. There are some very nice moments, like a confrontation with the dealers in Salim's apartment or the somewhat failed attempt to sell the dope to a corrupt lawyer. In scenes like these, the film has exactly the bite that the well-edited trailer promises. But unfortunately, those moments are in the minority.

Perhaps that in itself wouldn't weigh quite so heavily, as Offroad is actually, on balance, a pretty nice comedy. But what makes it such a disappointment is that the film had so much obvious potential for more. The actors, the very good camerawork, the story, all of this actually promises some pretty great cinematic fun. But since this promise is only fulfilled in fragments, after a while the viewer gets bored indifference instead of amused enthusiasm. So Offroad is not a total failure, but only fans of Nora Tschirner and Elyas M`Barek should be really enthusiastic.

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp