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What to Do in Case of Fire?(Was tun, wenn's brennt?)

✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

Germany · 2001
Rated R · 1h 41m
Director Gregor Schnitzler
Starring Til Schweiger, Doris Schretzmayer, Sebastian Blomberg, Nadja Uhl
Genre Thriller, Drama, Comedy, Action, Romance

What To Do In Case of Fire? tells the humorous and touching story of six former creative anarchists who lived as house squatters in Berlin during its heyday in the 80s when Berlin was still an island in the middle of the former eastern Germany. At the end of the 80s they went their separate ways with the exception of Tim and Hotte, who have remained true to their ideals and continue to fight the issues they did as a group. In 2000, with Berlin as Germany's new capital, an event happens forcing the group out of existential reason to reunite and, ultimately, come to grips with the reason they separated 12 years ago.

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What are people saying?

What are critics saying?

50

New Times (L.A.) by Andy Klein

Schnitzler's film has a great hook, some clever bits and well-drawn, if standard issue, characters, but is still only partly satisfying. The problem may very well be one of cultural translation.

60

L.A. Weekly by Chuck Wilson

If the screenwriters never satisfactorily reconcile these charming misfits with the unsettling fact that they're also bomb planters, albeit clumsy ones, they make up for it with smart, character-driven dialogue that's brought to life by an equally sharp ensemble.

20

The A.V. Club by Keith Phipps

Even if the time were somehow right for a madcap comedy about terrorists, What To Do In Case Of Fire would still look pretty lousy.

50

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

The group's credo, "Live free, stay high," only confirms your worst suspicions about their real motives. And that makes it hard to feel any nostalgia for the good old days or condemn the members who came to their senses and moved on.

63

New York Post by Megan Lehmann

It's all entertaining enough, but don't look for any hefty anti-establishment message in what is essentially a whip-crack of a buddy movie that ends with a whimper.

75

Boston Globe by Wesley Morris

Like Schumacher, director Gregor Schnitzler is more preoccupied with his characters' looks than their behavior. You might not buy the ideas. But you'll definitely want the T-shirt.

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