Vincent Wants to Sea! (2011)

60% of critics liked it
(20 reviews)
78% of users liked it
(180 ratings)

Vincent suffers from Tourette's Syndrome and, after his mother's death, is institutionalized by his father. He ultimately escapes with two fellow patients -- an anorexic named Marie and the obsessive-compulsive Alexander. His mission is simple. He wants to bury his mother's ashes in the seas off… More Vincent suffers from Tourette's Syndrome and, after his mother's death, is institutionalized by his father. He ultimately escapes with two fellow patients -- an anorexic named Marie and the obsessive-compulsive Alexander. His mission is simple. He wants to bury his mother's ashes in the seas off Italy, as was her dying wish. But to get there he and his friends steal their doctor's car. If caught, it could all be quite an embarassment for Vincent's politician father. But the real problem is that Vincent and his friends threaten to drive each other crazy. --(c)Corinth

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Ralf Huettner
Written By: Florian David Fitz
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

In Theaters: Jun 24, 2011 Limited
On DVD: Apr 10, 2012
Studio: Corinth Films

Critic Reviews

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
This is a bright, broad, silly, harmless movie whose sweetness is a means to an end: "Escape From Sesame Street.''
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
Predictability gives way to touching drama.
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times
What's missing is any of the real-life messiness that might have lifted this material from its creatively tic-ridden confines.
Paul Brunick, New York Times
The principal characters can be reduced to a handful of tics, and the entire story line is immaculately devoid of incidental detail. It's like sitting in a padded cell for about 90 minutes.
Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter
The picture's quiet performances and occasionally surprising moments take it just far enough off the beaten path to make it more than a transparently formulaic feel-good story.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Explores serious themes - some quite dark - with a lightness of touch, providing well observed and genuine humour, sometimes through pain
Louise Keller, Urban Cinefile
I was constantly surprised by this often hilarious, affecting film whose performances match the depth of emotion achieved,
Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl
...if most of what happens is fairly predictable there are still enough surprises, and sincerity, to make this modest film directed by Ralf Huettner worth your time.
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Vincent Wants to Sea" never deviates from the predictable bonding-through-misadventure script, and it has little to teach us about the nature and treatment of the traveler's respective maladies.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
"Vincent" takes us to an interesting place, but getting there is a slog.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
Against all reason we find ourselves caring, first about Vincent, then about the vulnerable Marie.
Betsy Sherman, Boston Phoenix
Huettner makes it a romantic as well as romantic comedy by positioning the characters against an awe-inspiring landscape.
Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper
It's wacky because they're different.
Les Wright, culturevulture.net
Whether classed as a drama, a comedy, or a road movie, Vincent Wants to Sea is a perennially favorite Hollywood tale.
John Hartl, Seattle Times
Like a lot of recent foreign and independent films, "Vincent Wants to Sea" tends to thrash around while its creators try to locate a finale that's neither obvious nor unrealistic.
Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International
Charming, involving rom-com road pic from Germany about three youthful escapees who flee an oppressive mental institution and the adults who are hardly blameless.
Sam Adams, Time Out New York
If Vincent Wants to Sea proves nothing else, it's that a moronically quirky take on mental illness is no more palatable when it's subtitled.
Kalvin Henely, Slant Magazine
Its optimistic straightforwardness takes us cleanly through all of its characters' messy and detoured lives.
Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve
Three inmates drive over the cuckoo's nest in this high-spirited comedy-drama.
Don Groves, sbs.com.au
A rousing, funny tale of three lost, damaged souls.