Jerichow

CinemaSerf

All we know about "Thomas" (Benno Fürmann) is that he is lucky to be alive and that he was dishonourably discharged from the army after something went wrong in Afghanistan. Now, he is living in an house left to him by his mother without two Euros to rub together. Then serendipity takes an hand in his life as he encounters "Ali" (Hilmi Sözer). When I say encounter, well it's more of a baptism really as the latter man - merrily full of alcohol - narrowly misses "Thomas" before careering his Range Rover perilously close to a river. Luckily, there's no real harm done but with the police already on the case of this habitual drunk driver, it's only a matter of time before he loses his licence. Fairly immediately, that happens and so the still grateful "Ali" recruits a new driver to help him manage his 45 fast-food kiosk business empire. The job also comes with one extra benefit. "Laura" (Nina Hoss) is married to "Ali" and the two take an instant shine to each other. It's not that she hates her husband, indeed she's actually quite grateful to him, but he essentially bought her - or her debts - and so you couldn't exactly call it a love match. When "Ali" makes a business trip back to his Turkish birthplace but really has an ulterior motive, is this the start of the truth unravelling from this web of deceit and lies? On the face if it, this is a simple love-triangle with the wealthy husband married to the younger lady who has an affair with their handsome help. There is more to it, though, and I felt much of that came from the engaging Sözer whose characterisation of the shrewd but slightly paranoid businessman with a story of his own takes the acing plaudits here. There's an effective paucity of dialogue that allows the scenario to develop in a fashion that can at times seem rushed, but that does not end in any fashion that we might reasonably have anticipated. It also asks the question: if you have twelve deliveries to make, do you do the nearest first or the farthest?