Waking Up Yesterday

I appreciate the desire to make a Czech comedy with a sci-fi plot, but it should have stayed there until a better script was finished, one that would not only be funnier, but would also make more sense, and would not have so many bits and pieces that are untold and unexplained. In addition, Jiří Mádl is terrible in the lead role, he is constantly goofing around and unfortunately draws attention to himself. Actually, only three actors - the reliable bards Viktor Preiss and Boris Hybner and the sympathetic Eva Josefíková manage to break this "Mádl curse" at least for a few precious moments. And the 120-minute runtime? At least half an hour too much. (2014-09-21)

I wake up in the morning and chew some gum. A few funny moments appeared (meaning two), but otherwise... Somewhere past the halfway mark, it loses its momentum; the over-lit stylization leans more towards nostalgic artifice than gray authenticity, and Marty McMádl looks like he’s just pulled out his dentures. Who was this actually intended for? I completely lost track during the chase after the big-eared emigrant Waldemar. (2021-11-23)

This is a goulash mixture based on the recipe of a dog and cat. Here and there it reminds me in parts of Back to the Future, of the very unsuccessful Goodbye Lenin! and many, many more films. Viktor Preiss is the acting certainty here, while everything else is as cheesy as Soviet Facebook on a bulletin board in 1989. Where are the snows of yesteryear... (2013-08-15)

I’ve heard a lot of praise for this movie. I thought it may not be so bad and that I might simply ignore the patent product placements. It was good that the product placement was basically only in the present. As soon as the story moves to 1989, it was forgotten. But that causes also the overall rating. The premise definitely deserves a star. However, the interpretation is worse. The present time was filmed like the Czech soap opera Ordinace v růžové zahradě, including the actors. The scenes from 1989 look as if they were filmed by a different director. Different atmosphere, different actors, different quality. The difference in quality is almost terrifying. For the year 1989 it deserves at least three stars, because some scenes were flawless. That’s why I think the premise wasn’t bad, it’s just a pity it had a bad interpretation. And the finale, that was the worst part of it. Teacher of the Czech language Petr changes his life but in the final scene he has no idea how he lived it, he is just glad it is the way he pictured it in 1989. Awesome. So he changed his life in 1989 and then until 2011 lived like a robot without thinking. That was really stupid. And it wasn’t the only thing that bothered me about the movie. I also like watching European movies and I rarely see product placement in them. In this movie, Petr gets in the car and drinks Big Shock with its logo brutally visible over almost the whole screen. Then he sits in a pub with a clear Labuť sign and drinks the Lobkowicz beer, whose logo is almost everywhere. Even on the toilet. Then he chews an Orbit gum and leaves in a sports car from Wolfsburg. Amazing. If it weren’t for the great jokes that saved the movie, I would have rated it Boo! (2013-09-10)

I don't expect much from Czech films these days. That's why it makes me happy when I come across a comedy that at least somewhat avoids awkward attempts at wit that make me almost ashamed of the filmmakers. Here, the level of humor is just about maintained. I don't dare address the mistakes of 1989, because I wasn't even born then. :) Mádl was as good as ever. I definitely got more than I expected. 3.5 stars. (2012-10-26)