"Mord ist mein Geschäft, Liebling" or "Killing Is My Business, Honey" is a German comedy movie from 7 years ago. The cast includes quite a few famous actors, at least here in Germany, and this does not only include Rick Kavanian and Nora Tschirner, who play the main characters. The most spectacular inclusions are surely Franco Nero (in a very small role) and Bud Spencer (in a slightly bigger role), two acting legends in their own right when it comes to Italian cinema. And even if the cast does not really include any really Italian actors, then there are many German actors playing Italians. The reason is that the entire movie is about organized crime and Mafia. But it is still a comedy, which poses a challenge to writer and director Sebastian Niemann that is almost impossible to master. Crime and comedy is a mix-up that is extremely difficult to succeed and it apparently needs a more gifted filmmaker than Niemann to make it work. By the way, I found the Erdinger promo in there really unfunny, repetitive and embarrassing. I wonder how much they paid for every ringtone we had to listen to.
And apart from the crime and comedy, there is also a fair share of romance in here. So it was definitely a great challenge, but the outcome is fairly disappointing. Kavanian brings nothing really to the role that exceeds the expected mediocrity and Tschirner, who I usually like, felt over the top on too many occasions. It was also a bit cringeworthy how they tried to include her usual goofiness and clumsiness, even if it did not fit the character at all. I cannot really blame them for the crime-related stuff as they decided to pick the safe route and not make this a violent or really aggressive movie in terms of depth when it comes to the mafia. But the negative deal breaker for the film is the failed attempt at comedy from start to finish. I was almost never laughing and it's not a short film by any means, almost makes it to 110 minutes. Sure it was nice to see Spencer, who I really love, but his character also offered nothing and it basically felt only included because they got him to play the part. All in all, as you know by now, I did not like this one. Thumbs down and I do not recommend checking it out. The only thing I liked here was the music (the songs) and of course this was not even an original aspect of the film.
And apart from the crime and comedy, there is also a fair share of romance in here. So it was definitely a great challenge, but the outcome is fairly disappointing. Kavanian brings nothing really to the role that exceeds the expected mediocrity and Tschirner, who I usually like, felt over the top on too many occasions. It was also a bit cringeworthy how they tried to include her usual goofiness and clumsiness, even if it did not fit the character at all. I cannot really blame them for the crime-related stuff as they decided to pick the safe route and not make this a violent or really aggressive movie in terms of depth when it comes to the mafia. But the negative deal breaker for the film is the failed attempt at comedy from start to finish. I was almost never laughing and it's not a short film by any means, almost makes it to 110 minutes. Sure it was nice to see Spencer, who I really love, but his character also offered nothing and it basically felt only included because they got him to play the part. All in all, as you know by now, I did not like this one. Thumbs down and I do not recommend checking it out. The only thing I liked here was the music (the songs) and of course this was not even an original aspect of the film.