Over Fingers

I didn't expect anything at all and I got something different than a classic Czech romcom (which is an anti-genre in and of itself). Fortunately, the film doesn't play at being something it’s not. Beach volleyball is a look at girls in bikinis, and there is no shortage of butts (ladies' and men's) or lush breasts. The cast is typical rolling stock, the co-production with Slovakia added a few less familiar faces like Marián Miezga, and Ostrava didn't forget about Štěpán Kozub for a change. Given that it’s full of relationship platitudes in a sports setting, the result is at least less harmful than vulgarities like Theory of Tiger or Patrimony, which beat the target audience over the head with nonsense and stereotypes of unreal proportions. (11/07/2020)

An almost ideal respite in the current situation. Considering that the ratio of awkwardness to humor is perfectly balanced, this scores a better sixty percent for me. Jiří Langmajer may have an unnecessarily aged look, but as always he's absolutely superb, and the female duo is appropriately chosen. We don't get many sports comedies and this one is really watchable. So the overall impression is positive. (03/16/2020)

In the series created by screenwriter Petr Kolečko, Jan Prušinovský at least often acts as a creative authority revising his screenplays and giving them a theatrically firmer and more believable form. In Kolečko's films, however, this authority is noticeably lacking and the result is often not even remotely funny, sexist and stupid nonsense (see also Bikers or Fifty). The comedy Over Fingers is no exception, and Kolečko also directed it (which was not originally planned and was an emergency solution), and this certainly didn’t help. The plot of the film is appalling and chauvinistic, and the film also has fundamental problems with the narrative pace, unconvincing dialogues, flat and clumsy implementation of many scenes, as well as forced or, at best, unconvincing work with humour. Women play the role of irrationally thinking physical objects designed for visual and sexual pleasure, including two of the main characters, who are destined to end up in bed with a man whom a few hours ago they considered an old, disgusting pervert (but then they smiled at his remark about their asses). The men behave like brutes, but they are not punished or reprimanded for it in any way, with the women submitting to them without hesitation and immediately forgiving any of their wrongdoings. Langmajer's character is portrayed as an experienced seducer who eventually gets any woman he wants without having to try particularly hard, but at the same time he is a stoned, manipulative bum who shows his penis in public without anyone asking for it and is convinced that he sleeps with women for their own good. When a woman happens to object to this, she is considered to be hysterical or to be overreacting (there is a bizarre scene in which an angry woman is offered a glass of juice, and instead of knocking it off the table, because she is a volleyball player she smashes it downward with her palm, cutting her tendons). This film is not even close pleasant summer relaxation fun. (08/27/2019)

Watching this film was like riding on a roller coaster. The beginning was quite entertaining, and I had some good laughs. Moving the tractor was hilarious, so I thought it would turn out to be a success, but... after a while, the story became weirdly silly, the plot was really dumb at times and the attempt at a Czech Big Lebowski just didn't do it for me. (02/25/2020)

For every ten terrible Czech comedies, there is a good one, and that is without a doubt Above Fingers. The story is nothing interesting, but the unusual setting of volleyball and especially the actors, with Jiří Langmajer playing his typical role of a womanizer in a love triangle between Petra Hřebíčková and Denisa Nesvačilová, who are perhaps the hottest girls on the Czech comedy scene. It's nice to watch, especially when the girls are only wearing bikinis, and there are plenty of funny lines as well. 7/10. (01/23/2020)