★★★
A billionaire's daughter fakes a relationship with a cash-strapped boxer in order to coerce her parents into letting her pursue her culinary dreams
Classification: 15
A charming but predictable romantic tale pulling from two classic tropes of 'fake dating' and 'Uptown Girl', follows Isi, a wealthy yet rebellious aspiring chef pursuing a relationship with underdog, impoverished boxer Ossi. Writer-director Oliver Kienle is able to inject enough vitality in the film to keep the romance engaging but the later plot developments and conclusions in his script are never able to reinvent the classic story of characters from different backgrounds falling for one another. Isi & Ossi, however, has delightful energy to it through the performances from Lisa Vicari, Dennis Mojen and Ernst Stötzner and how the fake relationship becomes a catalyst for Isi and Ossi to examine their own personal frustrations about their life's direction.
Isi and Ossi both need the other for personal gain; Isi needs Ossi's rough background to force her pretentious parents into releasing her trust fund so she can travel to New York to become a chef, and Ossi needs Isi's money to pay off debts and to continue his boxing career. Kienle has wealth and privilege drive the romance and conflict in the story as both characters are made uncomfortable by revelations through their actions. As it always does, it begins as a mutual agreement but as the lies mount upon one another to sell the lie for the other characters both Isi and Ossi learn the truths about one another. Their ambitions, their fears, and their insecurities about their lives as Isi through viewing Ossi's family struggle has her question her own priorities in life and whether she needs her parent's money. Vice versa with Ossi as he begins to feel embarrassed by Isi's presence in his life as she witnesses his attempts to keep his family together in the sacrifice of his boxing dreams.
Ossi's family troubles include Ernst Stötzner as his scene-stealing criminally paroled grandfather now turned underground rap artist, with his subplot having Kienle deploy a few obvious locales to depict the star crossed worlds of the characters life. Isi is shown through lavish mansions and art galleries, then trying to humble herself through a job as a fry cook at a discount burger joint. Ossi's life depicted through run-down, dilapidated locations for boxing, clubbing and the struggling gas station his mother owns. These aren't the most original ways to depict the disparity of wealth but Isi & Ossi is going for the most romantic of ideas, referencing Rocky and 8 Mile and that notion of underdog triumph. The chemistry between Lisa Vicari and Dennis Mojen works well together, the scenes where Isi and Ossi can let loose either in the underground rap club or intentionally embarrass themselves at high society functions are terrific as Kienle plays into those classic romantic tropes of emotional walls slowly crumbling away. On the flip side though, Kienle makes their courtship as strenuous as possible, injecting some believability into the story by having their differences in social stature and personality bring out the ugliest sides of each other. The latter half of the film mainly dealing with the fallout of the two characters struggling to accept their feelings for one another in relation to their upbringing, as Kienle doesn't have the film just go for fish out of water comedy setups for both characters trying to fit into the opposite world.
The romance brings the drama but the comedy is mostly brought by the supporting cast as while Isi & Ossi's premise sees the two faux lovers caught in an emotional game of chicken which invests them further into each other's lives, both of their families provide the laughs. Ernst Stötzner again has kinetic energy as Ossi's foul-mouthed, (possibly playful?) bigoted rapper grandpa, with his failings as a family man and criminal both providing audiences laughs and stress as his impulsive behaviour impacting Ossi's life. Same with best friend Tschünni played by Walid Al-Atiyat and coach Spasti played by André Eisermann, Ossi has a support system around him but its a double-edged sword as he is the one keeping his family together, trying to keep his grandfather out of prison and mother out of debt. However, while these supporting characters are mostly there for comedic relief, they aren't treated as farcical and get their dramatic moment when either Isi or Ossi need to be reminded of what's really important.
Clever enough to break free from monotony but not enough to distinguish itself from the pack, Isi & Ossi may not have the most iconic moments to swoon for and may fall into some schmaltzy dramatic traps but still delivers an entertaining time for its characters and themes. It's a love story we've all seen before but it does itself proud by the tropes it wants to utilise as Kienle imbues just enough spirit into his direction to make it engaging. Not ignoring the classist issues between the characters makes for some interesting drama along with having the romance blossom in a natural way but Kienle is clearly more tempted to take his characters to the fairytale ending than keeping it grounded as the more heightened elements take over the plot.
Director: #OliverKienle
Screenwriter: #OliverKienle
Cast: #LisaVicari, #DennisMojen, #ChristinaHecke, #ErnstStötzner, #WalidAlAtiyat, #AndréEisermann, #LisaHagmeister, #HansJochenWagner
Release Date: February 14th 2020
Available exclusively on Netflix
Trailer:
Written review copyright ©CoreyBullochReviews
Images and Synopsis from the Internet Movie Database
Comments