I saw this movie (Tom Tykwer's latest effort since "Run Lola Run") at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival, and let me just say, wow!

First off, let me say that, for those of you out there who are looking for this to be Run Lola Run 2, or something along those lines, look elsewhere. Tykwer's follow-up is a much slower paced film. It is meant to be that way, and it still has aspects that I liked about "Lola" that I liked in the man's filmaking style. As far as the new young directors who are remaking hollywood, add Tykwer to that list definately! This film had a pace all it's own, and yet kept me enthralled for the entire 2 hours. It still had staple Tykwer shots, and zooms, and cinematography, as well as a more ambient electronic score, than "Lola", which includes a track with vocals by Skin from Skunk Anansie, and once again Franke Potente sings on a couple, most notably the track in the end of the trailer, called "Don't Fly". The music just added to the overall feeling of this film.

To say that this movie was slow in it's delivery is completely unfounded, some critics have claimed this about it, and I say it is like calling "The Usual Suspects" slow. So you can see the madness in that.

This film was shot in a beautiful 1:35 scope, as opposed to the 1:85 letterboxed Run Lola Run, which just adds to the amazing cinematography. It is a great storyline, that pulled me initially in, and then kept me glued to my theatre seat for the duration. In the beginning when Bodo has realized that the truck attempting to shake him has run someone down. He thinks quickly and automatically grabs the straw from a young mans soda, and jumps under the truck where Sissi lays. He finds she can't breath and tell her he needs to cut a hole in her throat so she can. He takes out his pen knife and with the straw he performs a homemade traichiotomy. This has to be one of the BEST ways I have ever seen to people be introduced in a film. The fact that Bodo performs this incredible act of kindness which saves her life. Franke and Benno play their characters to perfection. He, the perpetual stalwart "I'm no hero" man, and her a typically quiet young nurse from a psychiatric hospital! . When Sissi does search for her savior, he and his brother are still attempting one last heist so they can get out of that life forever, and couldn't want less to do with her. Bodo, being troubled by the fact that his last girlfriend died in a bad explosion, and he couldn't save her leads to him not wanting anything to do with the one he did save. He is haunted by dreams about her every night, and can't seem to move on.

The twists and turns in the storyline begin to arise as their lives intersect more and more, and I swear there was a straight twenty minutes of revelations that knocked me off my seat. The twists in the plot pulled the story tightly together, while still maintaining an air of a dream-like state. The scenes in the psychiatric hospital are especially poignant, and real representations of life there. The supporting cast, mostly the patients in the hospital, are also incredible in their delivery.

Overall this movie wowed me more than any other of the 12 that I saw at the festival last year. None impressed me more, with such an amazing story, a love story, but the difference is this is a love story that is not so candy sweet as they usually are. This is one that girls can take their boyfriends to and they won't be bored to tears, they will be really impressed. So in my books, this movie deserves a good watching, it deserves being praised, and I give it 5 out of 5 no question.

It also recently got nominated for a slew of awards in Germany, most notably Best Picture, Actress and Actor, for a German film awards presentation.