In spite of being the first German-made film to ridicule Hitler, Mein Fuehrer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler fails to leave a deep impression on the audience.
Made by German writer-director Dani Levy six decades after the fall of the Third Reich, the film caused ripples across Europe for its bold attempt to poke fun at the delusional dictator.
Its premise - propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) enlists the help of a Jewish actor (Ulrich Muhe of The Lives of Others fame) to reinvigorate the depressed Hitler in the final days of the war - could have made for dramatic viewing if only the director had focused more on Hitler's foibles.
Given the egomaniac tendencies of the Fuehrer, it is natural for the audience to expect plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in a movie mocking Hitler. But hilarious caricatures of the dictator are far and few between. With only a few moderately amusing scenes, like Hitler playing with a toy battleship in the bath and his German shepherd Blondi urinating at his feet, the film feels far longer than its 95 minutes.
Excluding a few scenes showing a drab and deserted Berlin, the film also lacks historical references to the final days of the war or the Holocaust.
As it lacks both historical messages and opportunities to deride Hitler's antics, this is an insipid and disappointing film.