4th German Film Week
SM Megamall
Toni and Paul are best friends since childhood. Together, they develop an app for mobile phones called NANA. It is like SIRI but it can be customized to suit the personality and preferences of the owner of the cellphone, working based on complicated algorithms.
They rush in Paul's dilapidated car to present it to the wealthy owner of a famous software company named David Zuckerman (hint: slight resemblance to Mark Zuckerberg), along with a thousand other app developers who all aim to secure capital for their inventions.
Through some twist of fate, even if they are the last ones to present NANA, Zuckerman is so taken with their app that he immediately present them with 4 Million Euros for their app. Drunken party ensues with Paul & Toni celebrating their victory with the employees of their company. In a drunken state of mind, they both agree to a bet - they will get rid of all their possessions for 100 days and only get one item back, each day at midnight.
Next scene, we see both guys naked, their huge loft type apartments stripped bare. A big hangover still clouds their vision and judgement as they realize their employees emptied them of their precious belongings. Running naked across town to the storage area where their things have been placed is one of the funniest scenes I have seen in a while.
The film focuses on Paul & Toni trying to come to terms with a drastic change in their lifestyle. Toni is methodical, the salesman among them and is very conscious of his looks - taking pills for hair growth, wearing contact lenses because he hates wearing glasses. While Paul is the developer of the app and totally obsessed with his cellphone as NANA who dictates his every movement from buying the latest sneakers online, to even what he has to wear every day.
As we see how the deprivation of material possessions take a toll on their lives, (Paul is like a zombie without NANA while Toni's hair is unruly, has to wear glasses after infecting his eyes from week long contact lenses, OUCH!!) - they also come to terms with meeting realistic goals. Learning that friendship is more important than fancy rubber shoes or a well coiffed hair. Spending time with family and a potential love interest is way better than being obsessed with material things.
The first part of the plot is engaging as we see how they cope with the bet, how they try to not 'cheat', the frantic race to win the bet. Middle part gets a bit murky with too many side plots distracting away from the main theme with the introduction of a love interest named Lucy for Toni. She is an interesting character with her own 'disability', having an enormous credit card debt, a victim of commercialism as well.
The ending is rightfully predictable. Even as Zuckerman stole their creation, NANA, passing it off as his own, thus raking in profits, all is not lost for penniless Paul & Toni. A cunning twist manifests itself as sweet revenge. That was brilliant, I didn't expect that at all. A good way to end a comedy that went through many scenarios, naked butts et al, to essentially prove a very compelling point.
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