Too Old For Fairy Tales review: A bland Polish comedy that's all over the place and fails to hold one’s attention

1.5/5

Story:

Waldek’s(Maciej Karaś) is a young boy who’s never known a day of hardships. The apple of his overprotective mother’s eye, the young boy spends his time playing in e-gaming tournaments and hanging out with his best friend Staszek. Waldek’s cushy life takes a turn when his mother Tereska(Karolina Gruszka) has to have a brief stay at the hospital and he is left in the care of his strict aunt, the latter making sure he does his bit around the house. To make matters worse for Waldek, an important e gaming tournament is right around the corner, and all's not well with his team.

Review:

When you hear of the premise to Too Old For Fairy Tales, a million other coming of age tales with a similar narrative flashes to mind. A young boy who hasn't known struggle a day in his life, suddenly thrust into a world where there is no one to pick up after him, with a little high stakes competition thrown in to add drama. But even though they’ve been done a million times over, such coming of age tales seem to hold a special appeal for viewers, who watch them as fast as filmmakers can make them.

Too Old For Fairy Tales seems to try to cash in on this fondness for coming of age stories among audiences. But the film ends up becoming a disappointing mess of muddled up storylines. One of the most frustrating things about the film is its inability to stick to a particular direction when it comes to the film’s main theme and story. The plots keep on diverting to different paths, but refuses to stick to one till the end. We see the film start off as a story of Waldek learning how to be independent and care for himself, only to take a sidetrack into a very poorly conceived love triangle between Waldek, his best friend and a girl a part of his team. Although the trio’s story started off with them trying to earn the coveted trophy of an e tournament, that is brushed under the rug and doesn't pop up until the film’s lacklustre ending.

We are whisked away abruptly to Waldek’s mother’s story, as the story dips its toe into her emotional baggage only to leave it as is without a satisfying tie up. Waldek’s aunt is too given a chance to be a martyr in her ‘tragic’ backstory, but that too, like the rest of the characters’, lacks bite. The uninspired writing is sharply apparent even in the individual characters, who are nothing short of a mish mash of cliched plots from a plethora of coming of age tales gone past.

The convoluted plot screams of a cliched, predictable plot executed badly and becomes nothing short of an exhausting watch in the end. Although some of the lead cast, including Maciej Karaś, put up charming performances, it ultimately falls short to save the film from lazy writing.

Verdict:

Too Old For Fairy Tales is a bland, uninspired coming of age story with a confused plot that offers nothing new to viewers. The only saving grace of the film is a charming performance by young Maciej Karaś.