Přes prsty

Petr Kolečko is perfect at taking the superficial, chauvinistic, and sexist elements of contemporary society and pasting them into entertaining scenarios. Yet they must not be filmed by superficial directors, such as himself. The plot about the (non)merger of the beach volleyball duo is built so intricately and complexly that even Nolan looks on enviously. I was really embarrassed to be watching this at all because it's exactly one step ahead of entering the soft-porn genre, with the lure always being a woman's ass in a swimsuit that's supposed to end up in Jiří Langmajer’s bed, whose penis is the hard MacGuffin of Czech cinema. It's the kind of folksy fun that fills movie theaters, but at its core, it's exactly the kind of cheap schlock that has that polished glitz that can be seen through quickly, and you don't even have to have a gender studies degree to see it. I would have found this awkward at the age of 20 at the latest. Let alone now, when I'm three years younger than Kolečko. PS: That brilliant final speech by Vojtěch Dyk about burning wood is miles behind the rest of the film, as is the whole character of Hynek, who is one big running joke. (02/11/2020)

For every ten terrible Czech comedies, there is a good one, and that is without a doubt Above Fingers. The story is nothing interesting, but the unusual setting of volleyball and especially the actors, with Jiří Langmajer playing his typical role of a womanizer in a love triangle between Petra Hřebíčková and Denisa Nesvačilová, who are perhaps the hottest girls on the Czech comedy scene. It's nice to watch, especially when the girls are only wearing bikinis, and there are plenty of funny lines as well. 7/10. (23/01/2020)

It would have been better without Kolečko. Apart from the attractive scenes connected with the ballgame (cut to a minimum), this has nothing to offer. Langmajer is completely wrong for this film and the fact that he has nothing special to offer in terms of acting makes that even more obvious. As is the habit in Czech films, the characters are just dumb and behave irrationally simply for the purpose of creating supposedly funny situations. (31/10/2020)

I didn't expect anything at all and I got something different than a classic Czech romcom (which is an anti-genre in and of itself). Fortunately, the film doesn't play at being something it’s not. Beach volleyball is a look at girls in bikinis, and there is no shortage of butts (ladies' and men's) or lush breasts. The cast is typical rolling stock, the co-production with Slovakia added a few less familiar faces like Marián Miezga, and Ostrava didn't forget about Štěpán Kozub for a change. Given that it’s full of relationship platitudes in a sports setting, the result is at least less harmful than vulgarities like Theory of Tiger or Patrimony, which beat the target audience over the head with nonsense and stereotypes of unreal proportions. (07/11/2020)

Pelo menos nas séries do argumentista Petr Kolečko, figura frequentemente Jan Prušinovský como uma autoridade criativa que revê os seus argumentos e que lhes dá uma forma dramaturgicamente mais sólida e credível, enquanto no trabalho cinematográfico de Kolečko esta autoridade está visivelmente ausente e o resultado é muitas vezes pouco engraçado, sexista e estúpido (ver também Bikers ou Chasing Fifty). A comédia Over Fingers não é exceção, e Kolečko também a dirigiu (que não era o plano original, era uma solução de emergência), e isto não beneficia a causa. O enredo do filme é terrível e chauvinista e, além disso, o filme tem grandes problemas de ritmo narrativo, diálogos pouco convincentes, a execução de muitas cenas é feita de maneira dura e desajeitada, e com o trabalho de humor espástico ou, na melhor das hipóteses, embaraçoso. As mulheres aqui desempenham o papel de objetos físicos irracionais concebidos principalmente para o prazer visual e sexual, incluindo o par de protagonistas femininas que estão destinadas a acabar na cama mesmo com um tipo que elas consideravam um perverso velho e nojento há apenas algumas horas (mas depois sorriram ao seu comentário sobre os seus traseiros). Os homens comportam-se como idiotas, mas não são punidos ou repreendidos por isso, as mulheres continuam a sucumbir-lhes sem hesitação e perdoam imediatamente qualquer comportamento incorreto. O carácter de Langmajer é retratado como um sedutor experiente que acaba por conquistar todas sem ter de se esforçar demasiado, mas, ao mesmo tempo, é um preguiçoso pedrado e manipulador que exibe as suas partes íntimas em público sem ser questionado e está convencido de que dorme com mulheres para o bem delas próprias. Quando uma mulher se opõe, é vista como histérica e é considerado uma reação exagerada (ver a cena bizarra em que se oferece um copo de sumo à heroína zangada e, por ser jogadora de voleibol, em vez de o atirar da mesa, ela esmaga-o com a palma da mão cortando-se os tendões). Está longe de ser uma agradável diversão de descanso do verão. (27/08/2019)

Watching this film was like riding on a roller coaster. The beginning was quite entertaining, and I had some good laughs. Moving the tractor was hilarious, so I thought it would turn out to be a success, but... after a while, the story became weirdly silly, the plot was really dumb at times and the attempt at a Czech Big Lebowski just didn't do it for me. (25/02/2020)

Watching a comedy where I have to perform almost superhuman feats to get a laugh is probably not the ideal way to spend your time. When it comes to Over Fingers, if there's any humor at all, it mostly borders on awkwardness. The plot also drags incredibly. Moreover, the story is absolutely predictable and without a shred of invention, which in the case of Petr Kolečko is quite astonishing to me. Perhaps it was only because of Jiří Langmajer and Petra Hřebíčková that I watched it to the end, even though their acting was full of awkward performances. (35%) (29/11/2020)