A Coffee In Berlin
Music Box Films | Release Date: June 13, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
7
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJun 13, 2014
What is truly delightful about the film is its loopy, gently slapstick sense of humor, its use of continuous running gags that pay off cumulatively (no small feat), and the dreamy sense that Schilling's somnambulism is pierced through only by the insane incomprehensible behavior of others. Read full review
83
The A.V. ClubNick SchagerJun 16, 2014
This understated indie deepens its portrait of growing up by suggesting, ultimately, that anyone who thinks wasting time is a reasonable course of action needs to wake up. Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeJun 16, 2014
This day-in-the-life indie says something profound about an entire generation simply by watching a feckless young man try to figure it out. Read full review
80
Total FilmNeil SmithJan 21, 2014
Jan Ole Gerster’s deceptively slender character study has a complex undertow, subtly linking its wallflower anti-hero’s acceptance of his failings with his country’s wider atonement for its World War II past. Read full review
75
Washington PostStephanie MerryJul 11, 2014
It manages to make an entertaining story out of nothing in particular. And just when you get comfortable passively observing a passive observer, the minutest of twists becomes its own call to action. It urges the audience to consider this small story in a broader context. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 19, 2014
The film's surprising, enveloping jazz score is often deliberately at odds with Niko's moody outlook. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreJun 9, 2014
An engaging take on a drifting character at an age when we’re all adrift. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesMartin TsaiJun 26, 2014
In spite of its insufferably whimsical tendencies — exemplified by its original title, "Oh Boy" — the film may have turned out to be a deeply profound modern postscript about fascism. This isn't that far-fetched a reading at all. Read full review
70
The New York TimesRachel SaltzJun 12, 2014
If A Coffee in Berlin has its own kind of formula and a romanticism that reads as both youthful and obscuring, it nevertheless absorbs you and makes you wonder what Mr. Gerster will do next. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenJan 21, 2014
A delightfully unforced comedy with a sure grasp of character and setting. Read full review
67
The PlaylistMark ZhuravsyJun 16, 2014
A Coffee in Berlin is watchable and far from dumb, but the film embodies Niko's lack of clarity to the point where it hurts the picture. Read full review
60
Village VoiceDanny KingJun 10, 2014
Gerster and Schilling are more successful when they allow Niko's behavior to be their main subject. Read full review
60
EmpireDavid ParkinsonJan 21, 2014
A snappy, quirky German indie that will thrill fans of early Jim Jarmusch. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonTrevor JohnstonJan 21, 2014
It’s all rather charming, though, since leading man Schilling remains affable while never underselling this kindly yet feckless dropout’s sheer spinelessness. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJul 10, 2014
So where does that leave this coming-of-age comedy written and directed by Jan Ole Gerster? Somewhere in the middle, lukewarm and inoffensive, trying hard not to be plebeian or pretentious. Read full review
50
The DissolveDavid EhrlichJun 10, 2014
Sporadically amusing and sprinkled with a fine silt of truth that helps elevate Niko above the movie around him, A Coffee In Berlin is at its best when it rolls up the blueprints and lets its hero figure things out for himself. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineClayton DillardJun 9, 2014
Jan Ole Gerster seems infatuated with his main character, but to little avail beyond reveling in his aimless despair. Read full review
40
The GuardianLeslie FelperinJan 21, 2014
This debut for German writer-director Jan Ole Gerster seemingly aims to transplant a mumblecore aesthetic into Berlin, with all the requisite aimless hipsters, whimsical touches and rambling narrative dips and dives; but someone forgot to add spontaneity or edge. Read full review
25
ObserverRex ReedJun 12, 2014
A tedious exercise in tedium. Read full review
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