It's Hard to Be Nice
It's Hard to Be Nice
| 17 October 2007 (USA)
It's Hard to Be Nice Trailers

Story about a forty-something Sarajevo taxi driver named Fudo (Saša Petrović) who decides to take control of his own destiny. Fudo doesn't earn much, so he supplements his income by offering tips to the local criminal syndicate and turning a blind eye to their nefarious dealings. One day, after offering a particularly bad bit of advice to a violent gangster, Fudo is badly beaten. When Fudo's wife Azra (Daria Lorenci) discovers what has happened, she decides to take the couple's infant son and move out. Now determined to win his wife back and restore peace in the home, Fudo decides to go straight. But cleaning up his act isn't going to be easy, because after borrowing enough cash from black market dealer Sejo (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) to purchase a van and then refusing to aid him in any underhanded dealings, the only person willing to cut him any slack is the sympathetic Azra.

Reviews
Peereddi

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

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AutCuddly

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

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Sameer Callahan

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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Jenni Devyn

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

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Dominic Ambrose

The film "It's Hard to be Nice" directed by Srdjan Vuletic, looks at the postwar emotional landscape of Bosnia, where a collective post traumatic stress disorder has taken hold and defined the normal relations between people. The main character, Fudo, and his friends treat each other with utter contempt, cheating and violently confronting each other at the slightest offense. The outside world is seen with equal hostility, as robbers scan the home addresses of foreigners on extended stay in Sarajevo, targeting their home apartments in Germany and Holland for burglary by accomplices. He wants to be at peace with the world, but that's not so easy, when he is being beaten down by the people and circumstance around him. Almost at the breaking point, in the final scenes he stands bloody and enraged, and stares into the eyes of a young child, deciding what to do.Sasa Petrovic's performance as Fudo is effective, and he won the best actor award in Sarajevo in 2007 for this role. This is not surprising, considering this is just the type of role that goes over especially well at Sarajevo. Daria Lorenci also does well as his wife Azra. The story is fairly simple, a week-in-the-life formula, and the conflict is on-going and essentially unresolved in the end. This works well, because it reflects the reality of life in Bosnia where an uncertain surreal peace fails to totally mask the wounds. Whether those wounds are healing or festering is still anyone's guess. Bosnian audiences respond positively to a story like this, because it brings these questions out into the open and suggests the possibility that this torn nation will heal through sheer force of reason. It is a pleasant film, but it doesn't really break any new ground. Worth seeing, but don't expect an epiphany.

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deCyber

One of the best (Bosnian) movies I've seen in last years. Bosnia and Herzegovina is still trying to recover from the terrible war (and present silent war) and people are left by their representatives to try to survive those hard conditions (economic and political) in which the country is.In short, the story is about a taxi driver trying to make the living and to provide for his family the best he can in the situation given. And the situation is a catalyst or a cause for his actions. He tries to be a nice / good person but as the movie shows, in such surroundings, it's not an easy thing.Definitely worth watching. The cast is great, characters are played in such a way that the viewer really is able to experience the story.

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ruud-35

I saw this movie at the International Rotterdam Film Festival by surprise. This festival with lots of debuting directors is always a sort of bingo to see brilliant movies or to walk out of a cinema after terrible movie. For this movie I was invited by a friend. I had no expectations at all. To my surprise it turned out to be a wonderful small surprise with brilliant twists and some shocks. Its the first time I saw a Serbian movie. A brilliant surprise. Funny, small acted, with enough drama and a beautiful end shot. The title in English, It's hard to be nice, tells the story about the movie. I hope this movie will find his international way, because it's worth it.

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mustafic

This movie represents the true situation of living in Sarajevo. A bit of drama and comedy.The carters in the movie are picked up correctly which are facing poor standard in the country (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and try to survive. Again did Emir Hadzihafizbegovic an excellent work with his playing and also Ms. Lorenci. The normal life workers (Suad - a taxi driver) have difficulties to manage their lives on fair and normal basis without criminal activities. But one day, he says that is enough and he turns a new page in his life, to be a nice husband to Azra(Lorenci) and a good father to his little son. Although the society makes it hard for him to live nice and be polite he managed to get his life on a "normal" way. The best part of the movie is at the end ... the moon over Sarajevo where he accepts "his" son. The movie represents that no mater what, it is not always easy to be nice and to survive in the city Sarajevo. But still ... WE LIVE!Bravo!

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