A neat idea is hindered by clumsy plotting and overly polemical dialogue in Hans Weingartner's would-be contentious contrast between the committed revolutionary activism of 1960s youth and today's cosier designer idealism. The subplot, involving the romantic triangle between Julia Jentsch and urban subversives Daniel Bruhl and Stipe Erceg, might provide the reason for the kidnap of smarmy businessman Burghart Klaussner, but it soon becomes a distraction from the mindgames and political debates after the trio smuggle him away to a mountain retreat while they devise a way of exploiting their predicament.
Thankfully, Bruhl reinforces his burgeoning reputation as his character wrestles with his conscience, while Klaussner's rendering of the zealot corrupted by the system both impresses and depresses.