Ines Conradi (Sandra Huller) is a young German globalist consultant living in Bucharest, Romania. Her job is to assist large corporations to outsource jobs and reduce their labour costs. Winfried (Peter Simonischek) is Ines' father who is near retirement and concerned about how distant and workaholic his daughter has become. To relieve his distress, he "visits" her in Bucharest and plays pranks by showing up at Ines' business functions dressed in a bizarre wig and claiming to be "Toni Erdmann, life coach"."Toni Erdmann" is yet another film where I liked the first half better than the second. The beginning section has many genuine moments of social awkwardness and it is candid about our modern times as it exposes the foils of workaholism and the deviousness of globalization. In a few scenes, director/writer Maren Ade cleverly juxtaposes the wealth of the globalist foreigners with the poor living circumstances of average Romanians. One scene amazes in showing how the poor can still be generous despite their circumstances.The latter half is filled with buffoonery with occasional laughs (a bizarre birthday brunch was the highlight) but some of the comedy seems silly and inconsistent with the rest of the story. For example, how could "Toni" have shown up at Ines' after-work events before she does without any indication she told him where she was going to be?Huller gives a fine performance of a complex, inner-conflicted character. She portrays what could be called a villain: a despised, modern archetype - someone who advances her/his own career while casually destroying the livelihoods of others who are less well-off. Yet, she manages, with the help of Ade, to humanize the role without being apologetic for the career choice. The universal theme of "lost childhood" is also well portrayed here in Ines' relationship with Winfried. We get glimpses that she used to be as prankish with him in her early years.Overall, "Toni Erdmann" is a good film despite its flaws and its excessive length. Like the recent "Moonlight", it is a highly acclaimed film that, for me, reaches much of its potential but not all of it.

A complete waste of time and money - both of the viewers and the filmmakers. Stay away. Unbelievable, unnatural, pointless and untalented. Off-putting and extremely long. Get an editor!

TERRIBLE movie. Maybe it's because i'm Asian and don't understand the European culture.But i do think that movie should be universally engaging to audiences.The story itself is flawed. A big major flaw. An old guy trying to foster a closer relationship with his successful daughter and he dresses up as a his alter ego Toni Erdmann, an irritating person with false teeth and toupee and irritates the hell out of his daughter by disturbing her wherever she goes. How can he hope to achieve his win his daughter's heart by irritating her so much? Why should the daughter play along with his childish persona?If i were his daughter i would distance myself from 'Toni Erdmann" even more so.Please believe me when i say that this is the worst 3 long hours . Watch it at your own risk.

I found out about this German-Austrian film from both a television film review discussion, and when it came about during Awards Season, from hearing what it was about and its positive opinions, I was hoping it would be worth it. Basically Winfried Conradi (Peter Simonischek) is a divorced music teacher, an old-age hippie of sorts, and a passionate prankster. Winifried doesn't see much of his working daughter Ines (Sandra Hüller), pursuing a career as a business consultant, currently posted in Bucharest, Romania, working on an outsourcing project in the oil industry. Following the death of his beloved dog, Winifried travels to Bucharest to pay Ines a surprise visit, he puts on sunglasses and false teeth as a playful disguise, she chooses to ignore him, but later invites him to a business reception at the American Embassy. At the reception, Ines wishes to secure a consulting contract with German oil company CEO Henneberg (Michael Wittenborn), she tries desperately to get his attention, but Henneberg seems more interested in her father. Winifried tells Henneberg he has hired a replacement daughter, as Ines is always busy, to her surprise, she and her father are invited, along with the entourage, for drinks, at the bar Henneberg again brushes off Ines and makes fun of Winfried. After several days, Ines and Winifried struggle to get along, she is consumed with work, getting stressed and oversleeping, and she blames her father for most of it, feeling alienated and unwanted Winifried leaves in a taxi for the airport. Ines continues work as usual, several days later she arranges to meet two girls at a bar, while Ines and her friends, a man approaches, introducing himself as "Toni Edrmann, clearly it is her father with false teeth and a wig, but she does not let on as the girls politely engage in conversation. Ines is increasingly frustrated and unfilled in both her work and her personal life, but she encounters "Erdmann" sporadically at parties and outside the office, she is angry at first with her father, accusing him of trying to "ruin" her, but she starts to see the worth of her father's interventions, and plays along with his ruse. "Erdmann" accompanies Ines on a night out with her work friends, then joins her at a business meeting, in turn, "Erdmann" takes Ines to a Romanian family's Easter party, where he forces her into a reluctant but powerful performance of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All", after which she swiftly departs. Back at her flat, Ines is preparing to host a business team-building brunch to celebrate her birthday, but she struggles with her dress and shoes, the doorbell rings, instead of finding a new outfit, she opens the door naked, telling guests that it is a "naked party". Each of the guests react differently some leaving in disgust, other self- conscious stripping off, the party becomes increasingly awkward, and Winifried turns up in a full-body Bulgarian kukeri costume, frightening Ines' colleagues, he leaves, but she follows, in the park the father and daughter share a hug, despite the impractical costume. Months later, Ines returns to Germany for the funeral of her grandmother, she explains that she has quit her job in Bucharest and will shortly begin working with McKinsey & Company in Singapore, after the funeral Ines and Winifried spend time in the garden playing with funny hats, and reflecting on the nature of happiness. Also starring Thomas Loibl as Gerald, Trystan Pütter as Tim, Ingrid Bisu as Anca, Hadewych Minis as Tatjana and Lucy Russell as Steph. Simonischek and Hüller are a most interesting father and daughter odd couple, there are some slow bits, and you have to keep up with the switches from foreign language with subtitles and English language, the most memorable moments are the awkward Whitney singing and the naked party, most of the laughs come from the eccentric characters and unpredictability of the ridiculous pranks, an unusual but interesting enough comedy drama. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film not in the English Language, and it was nominated the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language. Good!