1/2
Germany 2016
Opening August 25, 2016
Directed by: Sven Unterwaldt
Writing credits: Daniel Speck
Principal actors: Christian Ulmen, Allessandro Bressanello, Mina Tander, Maren Kroymann
This sequel to the 2009 German—Italian culture—clash comedy Maria, ihm schmeckt's nicht! picks up where the prequel lets off. Jan and his German-Italian fiancé Sara had finally gotten married in spite of the "inter-European cultural divide" that seemed to be widening proportionally to the two families getting to know each other and the closer the wedding date. Especially the Italian-born father-in-law's interference with the event planning didn't help. But all this is behind them now. They sort of accepted that marriage is kind of a package deal—one for the price of the entire clan, and as Jan puts it: "family is close combat and sometimes we just get too close to each other." To have some quality time alone together, Jan (Ulmen) surprises his very pregnant wife (Tander) with tickets to New York City for a belated honeymoon. Since her overprotective father Antonio (in this sequel played by Bressanello) would predictably interfere as much as he could, they try to keep their plans to themselves. Fat chance! Nothing will go according to plan, except a little more according to Antonio's plans.
Once again, this comedy amuses with German and Italian peculiarities and traits and in this sequel also with those of Americans, particularly those tourists, who come into close contact with Bressanello with his talent for physical comedy. He is a great choice for the role of Papa Antonio. As much embarrassment and anger his character arouses, he also elicits sympathy and affection. ()