The Edukators (2004) Film 20/50

I won't lie...there was only one motivating factor for me seeing this movie: Daniel Brühl. If you haven't seen Good Bye Lenin!, I highly recommend that film.

As for The Edukators (or as the original German title, Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei, roughly translates to English: Occupy Berlin), the story follows three activists who use feng shui as a scare tactic in a not-so-epic battle of rich vs. poor. They are forced to re-evaluate their beliefs when one of their heists goes awry.

I don't want to give away too much with the plot, as I did enjoy the movie enough to recommend it to others, but I also didn't really love this film. The "protagonists" aren't all that likable, and the motivation behind their actions is never properly established. Only Jule's behavior is "explained" to the audience, but her actions are not justified by her rationale. For all that I wanted to support Brühl and his partners in interior decorating, I found myself on Team Hardenberg instead. I did, however, enjoy the ending.

There is also a slight overuse of Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah. It's a great song, but that doesn't make it okay to play it thrice in a matter of fifteen minutes.

Yes, I said thrice.

So there is my weak bid at trying to convince you to see The Edukators. There are other German films that I'd recommend over this one (Run Lola Run, Good Bye Lenin!, The Princess and the Warrior), but I wouldn't pass it by if you enjoy looking at Daniel Brühl as much as I do.