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FILM REVIEW: Coconut Hero (2015) – filmed in Canada
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FILMED IN CANADA

FILM REVIEW: Coconut Hero (2015) – filmed in Canada

August 11th, 2015 Sonja ENGLISH FILMS, FILM REVIEWS, FILMED IN CANADA, GERMAN FILMS
FILM REVIEW: Coconut Hero (2015) – filmed in Canada
(Last Updated On: 5th December 2017)

This is the story of Mike Tyson. No, not the boxer Mike Tyson. A different one… This Mike Tyson lives somewhere out in the Canadian wilderness, is constantly bullied and therefore decides to commit suicide. But as so often in life, everything turns out totally different as originally planned…

The Story

Aged 16, Mike has already had enough of his life (or rather that miserable existence that you call life). He doesn't have any friends in his sleepy Canadian hometown, his German father Frank (Victoria director Sebastian Schip­per) has been absent for pretty much all of Mike's life and single mum Cynthia (Krista Bridges) is constantly moaning about everything.

So one day, Mike decides to end it all. He orders his own obituary from the local newspaper and shoots himself in the head. However, his story doesn't end here. To his disappointment he survives the suicide attempt…

Coconut Hero. © Majestic Filmverleih

Coconut Hero. © Majestic Filmverleih

Just shortly afterwards though, the doctors find a tumour in Mike's head. Mike can hardly believe his "luck" of getting a second chance to die and so covers up the illness in order to avoid life-saving treatment.

However, things don't go as planned. For once, his long lost father reappears again, trying to reconnect with Mike. Then, Mike meets Miranda (Bea Santos) – a girl about his age with slightly crazy ideas. They start to hang out and get on really well. Until fate strikes again. But not in a way you might expect…

The Location

The scriptwriter (Elena von Saucken) and director (Florian Cossen), both Germans, were inspired to set Coconut Hero in the sheer endless woods of North America when they travelled through Canada in 2010: "We thought it was much more exciting to shoot a film about depression and boredom in an area where you will get an overwhelming feeling of vast lands, the horizon and freedom!"

Filming took place far away from any kind of infrastructure – a true nightmare for any filmmaker. The hard work paid off though: In Coconut Hero, the setting of a small town somewhere in the vast wilderness of Canada emphasizes the fact that Mike, despite having the freedom of the wild on his doorstep, feels trapped in the little town where nothing ever happens and everything always stays the same. Supposedly…

Cruising with Miranda. Photo: © Majestic Filmverleih

Cruising with Miranda. Photo: © Majestic Filmverleih

The Performance

German director Florian Cossen and the international cast, especially new talent Alex Ozerov, did a really good job with this indie tragic-comedy full of really dark humour. I was laughing at many of its jokes, even though there were times when I asked myself if I really should be laughing right now. Occasionally, I found the film a bit slow. But towards the end the pace caught up again with a – to me totally unexpected – turn of events.

Mum-Dad-Son encounter. Photo: © Majestic Filmverleih

Mum-Dad-Son encounter. Photo: © Majestic Filmverleih

I classified this film as German because the director / production team behind is in German. However, it is set in Canada and the original language is English. If you can, I would recommend to watch Coconut Hero in English as I heard that the dialogue is not so good in the dubbed German version.

Dance lessons with Miranda. Photo: © Majestic Filmverleih

Dance lessons with Miranda. Photo: © Majestic Filmverleih

My verdict: Somehow, through the dense forest of the darkest jokes you can ever imagine, the message of this coming-of-age flick is still that of enjoying life in the moment to its fullest potential!

*** 3 out of 5 stars

Over to you: Have you watched Coconut Hero yet? What did you think of it?

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Sonja

Sonja

I am an ex London expat now living back in Germany. Having worked part-time in a cinema since my school days, the cinema (or in 2020 rather Netflix & co) is my second home. If you don't find me there, I am probably travelling the world in order to trace my favourite film locations and film settings. On filmfantravel.com, I combine these two passions by sharing my best tips about film-inspired travel. Join the journey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @filmfantravel!

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Hi! I'm Sonja from Bremen, Germany. I'm a full-time English to German Marketing Translator, Linguistic Reviewer and Tour Guide on a part-time mission to discover the world through movies and series.

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I recently started watching ski jumping competitio
I recently started watching ski jumping competitions on TV again. This inspired me to rewatch the film “Eddie the Eagle“ (2015), which is currently on Netflix.

The film is based on the real-life story of British ski jumper Eddie Edwards. Eddie managed to take part in the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada in 1988 even though he only started training for his ski jumps at the mature age of 22. 😂🙈

The scenes for “Eddie the Eagle“ were mainly filmed at the real-life ski jumping hills in Garmisch-Patenkirchen and Oberstdorf in Bavaria, southern Germany.

I personally have not yet been to these ski jumping hills, but I have been to the ski jumping hill „Holmenkollen“ in Oslo, Norway, which is equally stunning.

Have you ever been to a ski jumping hill?

Photo 1: Scene from
“Eddie the Eagle“ (2015). Larry Horricks - © TM & 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
Photo 2: © Sonja Irani - FilmFanTravel.com

#eddietheeagle #netflix #filminspiredtravel #filmlocations #movielocations #skijumping #holmenkollen #oslo #norway #visitoslo #dreamchasersnorway #lovescandinavia #visitnorway #bestofscandinavia #dreamynorway #norwaytravel #norwaytrip #onlyinnorway

Christmas is almost over and although many things 
Christmas is almost over and although many things have been different this year, some things never change... Such as our favourite Christmas movies that we can watch over and over again... and that make us dream about future travel destinations! 😉 💭 

One of my favourite Christmas series to look forward to this year was the second season of the Norwegian romcom series “Home for Christmas” (OT: Hjem til jul) with @idaelisebroch_official and @felixsandman! The series was released on Netflix on 18 December 2020. 

When I was working as a tour guide in Norway this summer, I was lucky enough to pass by Røros - the UNESCO world heritage town that served as the setting and main film location for the series! 

Read more about the series and its film location Røros on my blog FilmFanTravel.com(link in my bio above)! 

Which Christmas movie has inspired your upcoming travels? 

Photo 1: Scene from “Home for Christmas” (2019-) filmed in Røros, Norway. © Netflix. Photo 2: Me at the same street in Røros, Norway in August 2020. © Sonja Irani / FilmFanTravel.com

#destinationroros #destinasjonrøros  #netflix #netflixshows #norway #roros #homeforchristmasnetflix #hjemtiljul #dreamchasersnorway #traveleurope #filminspiredtravel #filmlocation #filmlocations #movielocations #lovescandinavia #norway #visitnorway #bestofscandinavia #dreamynorway #norwaytravel #norwaytrip #onlyinnorway #rorørosregionen #godjul @visitnorway

Just like American Marketing Manager Emily in the 
Just like American Marketing Manager Emily in the new Netflix series “Emily in Paris”, I followed almost every fashion trend back in 2007. 😂🤷🏻‍♀️Here I am in front of the Eiffel Tower wearing a massive “link chain necklace”. Hey, it was fashionable at the time, okay? InStyle magazine said so! 😂🙈

Writing my newest film review about the American girl who makes the big move to Paris (link currently in bio), I realised that it has been exactly 10 years since my last visit to the city of love in 2010. So I really would like to go back in 2021.

Who else was inspired to put Paris on their post-pandemic travel list by watching “Emily in Paris”?

Photo 1: Scene from “Emily in Paris” (2020-). © Netflix. Photo 2: © Sonja Irani / FilmFanTravel.com

#emilyinparis #netflix #netflixshows #paris #france #citytrip #traveleurope #filminspiredtravel #filmlocation #filmlocations #movielocations #lilycollins #thisisparis #visitparis #ig_paris #parisianlife #hello_france #parisjetaime #parislife #exploreparis

Blarney Castle near Cork, Ireland in full autumn b
Blarney Castle near Cork, Ireland in full autumn bloom back in October 2016.

The castle’s unique attraction is to kiss the famous Blarney stone on top of the castle. What’s more... you apparently get the gift of eloquence afterwards. The catch: You have to lean over backwards - head first - to reach it! Apart from that, kissing a stone that millions others have kissed before is not exactly in line with the current Covid hygiene rules... 😂

As far as I know Blarney Castle itself has not yet been used as a filming location, but the website states that it’s open for bookings for TV and movie crews. Maybe something to look forward to in the year 1 or 2 AC (After Corona). 😂🙈 Let’s hope so because with Ireland being the main film location of major TV and movie productions such as “Game of Thrones”, “Star Wars” and “Vikings”, there is much to discover for film fans! 🤗
-
#blarneycastleandgardens #autumn #autumnleaves #filminspiredtravel #ireland #loveireland #irelandtravel #discoverireland #map_of_europe #visitireland #instaireland #irland #irish_daily #daily_ireland #images_ireland  #castle #castlesineurope #castlesinfall #colorsinfall #castlesofireland #autumncolours


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