A storm, a cab and five fates
In Tobi Baumann's "791 km", five protagonists are forced to take a cab from Munich to Hamburg. Crammed into a few square meters, conflict and humanity come close together. Despite the star cast, the tragicomedy doesn't quite hit the spot.
There are 791 kilometers between Munich and Hamburg, which can theoretically be covered by train in just over six hours. But it's a different story when rail traffic is once again paralyzed and the journey has to be made by car. What sounds like a story from the life of a rail traveler caught between snow flurries and the GDL strike is the material from which "Der Wixxer" director Tobi Baumann has knitted his tragicomedy "791 km".
To get his protagonists on their way, he has Deutsche Bahn distribute cab vouchers to the stranded passengers. So far, so unrealistic. But this at least brings together Tiana (Nilam Farooq) and her boyfriend Philipp (Ben Münchnow), Marianne (Iris Berben) and Susi (Lena Urzendowsky), who all want to get from the south to the north as quickly as possible in Josef's (Joachim Król) cab, unbeknownst to them. Josef isn't actually on duty, but he allows himself to be talked into it and off they go on the - unfortunately not really wild - ride. Of course, the five very different people, who all have their very own baggage to carry, clash from time to time, but quickly come together again elsewhere and eventually even develop previously unsuspected feelings for each other.
Five people, five fates
What could have been an entertaining road trip due to the top-class cast alone suffers in some places. The main reason for this is the many clichés that Baumann uses in his screenplay. Tiana is a stressed careerist, her boyfriend Philipp a phlegmatic but nice physiotherapist. It's hard to imagine that the two were ever on the same wavelength. Marianne, a former linguistics professor, is still partly an eco-hippie, and Susi suffers from a mental impairment, for which the viewer soon learns the reason, which of course should not be spoiled here. Just as little as Josef's actual reason for making his way to the Hanseatic city. They all have their own, sometimes tragic, stories to tell. Nevertheless, the film does not succeed in giving the characters, who started out as stereotypes, the complexity needed to seriously engage with their life plans, philosophies and opinions.
It goes without saying that the five travelers quickly stumble across topics such as climate change and climate stickers or cancel culture and "those up there" and rarely agree on them, but this is only mentioned in passing. There is never any depth, and the crumbling harmony is usually quickly restored. Yet this is precisely where the exciting momentum would lie in such a forced community. Instead, everything scratches the surface, even though some of the dialog is quite well done and provides amusing entertainment and a few laughs. However, the car journey, which is shortened to 103 minutes, runs so clumsily towards a happy ending that all the kitschy stops are pulled out for the sake of it.
Feel-good movie with a message
Tobi Baumann places the socio-critical aspects behind the personal fates of his characters, who move closer and closer to each other over the course of time and thus become more and more human. In cold times like these, this is of course not the wrong message, but it is not exactly subtly presented. Perhaps it would have been better for the story to do without one or two themes instead of overloading it with them without playing them out. For a long time, it is unclear where the journey is actually going.
In the end, however, it is clear that "791 km" is more of a feel-good movie for the (pre-)Christmas season, although it lays it on a little too thick and leaves a sticky feeling instead of a warm one. But what the movie also teaches the viewer is that listening to others and showing them understanding often helps more than working on each other. And that is certainly not the wrong message, especially with Christmas and family celebrations approaching.
"791 km" is now showing in German cinemas.
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Despite the film's socio-critical themes and engaging dialogue, some viewers might feel that the characters lack complexity and depth. The comedic moments fall short of fully capturing the tension and conflict between the passengers, as the film leans more towards a feel-good, message-driven narrative.
This tragicomedy, set in the backdrop of a road trip, could have benefited from focusing on a few key themes instead of attempting to tackle several at once, allowing for a more substantial exploration of each character's journey.
Source: www.ntv.de
