The open-air feeling of the fishing-trip sequence in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” — when the patients left the asylum and saw the world outside for a brief interlude — is somewhat conjured up in “Vincent Wants to Sea,” a German movie about th
ree denizens of a rehab center who decide to give themselves a furlough.
Vincent, played by Florian David Fitz (he also wrote the script) suffers from Tourette’s syndrome. His father can’t handle Vincent’s uncontrollable outbursts anymore, so he shoves his son into the facility, where he will possibly get better but — more important for the father’s purposes — at least stay out of sight.
The place is perfectly civilized; Instead of Nurse Ratched, there’s a kindly, serious psychiatrist (Katharina Muller-Elmau). Plus, it isn’t hard to bust out of the joint. Vincent mostly departs because of a vague plan to distribute the ashes of his late mother, perhaps at the seashore.
His companions are Marie (the poignant Karoline Herfurth, from “The Reader”), who has an eating disorder, and Alexander (Johannes Allmayer), an obsessive-compulsive type and a reluctant participant in the road trip. They steal the doctor’s car and head off into the Alps.
For a while, the movie gets by with the momentum of a road trip and the pleasant scenery. The Alpine vistas make this a promising place to escape.
The performers can’t be faulted, as all bring humor and a bittersweet quality to their characters. If the characters aren’t deep, at least they are skillfully acted.
Director Ralf Huettner sets the table perfectly well, but after a while it all becomes just a little too tidy, a little too satisfied with itself. I couldn’t help thinking Huettner wanted to make sure we all understood how adorable these fugitives were, with their funny little quirks and their eccentricities.
Maybe as a kooky comedy it works in a sort of mechanical way, but when it tries to soar, nope, no dice.
“Vincent Wants to Sea”
Three patients escape from a rehab center and head out on a road trip through the Alps, a scenic way to travel. After a while, the movie’s insistence on how adorable these folks are (one has Tourette’s syndrome, another anorexia) gets a little much, and the comedy gets a little forced. In German, with English subtitles.
Rated: Not rated; probably R for subject matter
Showing: Varsity
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
