TIFF 2009 Day 7: Fatih Akin’s Soul Kitchen

I can tell you what I was expecting: something unlike his previous films, since Fatih Akin was going the comedy route. I can tell you what I was hoping for: perhaps some dramatic, or dark elements. What I wasn’t expecting to find is a bland mainstream offering that German audiences will likely flock to, but will hardly be mentioned on the art-house circuit. Soul Kitchen takes a nose-dive once we figure out that storyline is dull, that the characters come across as stereotypes and that plenty of them get lost in the shuffle, specifically the misuse of what could have been a potentially fun juxtaposing between the chummy protag played by Adam Bousdoukos and Birol Ünel. Full review coming soon.