REVIEW: ‘Betonrausch’ aims high, but doesn’t rise to the standard

“Sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.” That’s the lifestyle the latest Netflix film “Betonrausch” (“Rising High” in English), attempts to emulate. The German production, directed by Cüneyt Kaya, can be considered a weaker version of “The Wolf of Wall Street,” only on a different continent and with much less impact. 

“Rising High” is a dramatized white-collar crime film that tells the story of Viktor (David Kross), a young realtor whose personality turned out to be extremely bland — but that doesn’t even make a difference given the dull course of the film. Through flashbacks, the film reveals that Viktor’s desire to ascend the corporate social ladder comes from his early childhood, when he saw his hardworking and devoted father (Robert Schupp) financially struggle. 

Themes of extreme wealth, drugs, prostitution and great ambition are present throughout the entire movie. Pulsating neon lights at parties, a constant flow of champagne, high-end suits — everything is there, but the script supporting it failed to consider character depth and development. 

Because Viktor doesn’t have the means to achieve immediate popularity and wealth, he begins by pretending he does — after all, who would doubt a man with copious amounts of gel in his hair smiling in a nicely tailored suit? He partners up with Gerry (Frederick Lau), a low-life and somewhat of a grumpy man. The two begin their real estate business after purchasing a luxury complex building with money they don’t even have, with the help of mortgage broker Nicole (Janaina Uhse), who Viktor marries later on.  

Their plan consists of scamming people into bankruptcy by giving them fake bank loans to buy properties when the payments are actually going to Viktor and Gerry. After the first successful attempt, things escalate quickly. Between a repetitive amount of party scenes and bureaucratic meetings, the setbacks of the scams were also weak. To illustrate, at one point Viktor had to create his own bank in a foreign country because he couldn’t enlist the help of the German ones anymore — problem solved, just like that. 

The fraudulent scams were generally well planned, but that’s to credit the writers and producers. However, it seems that most of the writers’ efforts went into developing these crimes and not the characters’ personalities. In the end, this imbalanced writing failed to create a truly convincing story. It is hard to believe that Viktor, a tame blonde with no real guts, could effectively convince so many individuals and even entire firms into signing million-dollar contracts, as clueless as they could have been. 

Predictably, however, he doesn’t get away with it. The movie is nonlinear and contains three main time frames: the time of the scams, the flashbacks to Viktor’s childhood and his time in prison, where he tells the whole story to a journalist. Even in prison, he doesn’t express any remorse about his crimes — tax evasion, money laundering, fraud — and he explicitly says so. The problem is that it is really hard to buy his maliciousness; it is simply not convincing. 

Yet, there is one personality twist toward the end that is slightly more authentic, in which Viktor genuinely makes an effort to reconnect with his now ex-wife and daughter, whom he has had almost no contact with. That glimpse of improvement, however, doesn’t hold up. After his emotional family reunion, it’s not certain whether or not he will return to a criminal life — but that is made clear in the end.

With that, it is clear that the movie is, overall, savorless. The plot has potential, but it is also somewhat predictable. The failed attempt to add a bit of comedy to it is almost pathetic. The obvious way in which Viktor enjoys his life when he rises to the top — with a beautiful mansion, parties full of drugs, an expensive car and bags full of dollar bills — is also disappointing.

“Betonrausch” is actually an engaging film and easy to watch, and the seductiveness of the wealthy lifestyle is also appealing.  But we have seen it all before. It is supposed to be one of those movies that viewers root for the antiheroes in the white collars, even when they are scammers; viewers like to watch the crooks’ extravagant and luxurious lives, carried by their arrogant personas, but that doesn’t happen in this case. 

Despite its name, “Betonrausch” doesn’t provide much adrenaline nor excitement; it doesn’t build up to any tension, and the viewer is most likely to predict the end. It’s a classic case of “been there, done that.” But not only was it cliche, it simply wasn’t convincing enough.