Review: Rising High

Release date: April 17, 2020
Running time: 94 minutes
Starring: David Kross, Janina Uhse, Frederick Lau

Rising High tells the story of the rise and fall of two real-estate fraudsters.  Viktor (Kross) and Gerry (Lau) decide to start making a bunch of bad real estate deals in Germany, and pull in banker Nicole (Uhse) to help them facilitate this.  The trio quickly become incredibly rich, but as their business grows, so does the underlying con.  And, as they take greater and greater steps to keep it going, the three have to do more to keep the entire scheme from unraveling.  

Rising High has some really enjoyable performances from the leads.  Viktor is smart and driven, but has a certain naivete about him as he is essentially winging it.  He gets a lot from his intelligence and charisma, but also gets in over his head due to his lack of experience.  Gerry is the more experienced con man, with the connections needed to get the job done.  However, he needs Viktor to complete his schemes.  These two have a lot of good chemistry, with each playing off each other's strengths.  It is fun to see Gerry take Viktor under his wing and show him the ropes.  And when the pair add Nicole into the mix, the scheme really gets interesting.  

Rising High has a lot of crazy schemes, but it also doesn't appear to go far enough.  The two spend a lot of money to quickly build their construction empire, and also burn through it quickly.  And although there are fancy houses, cars, and a party or two, I wish it had gone further.  It feels like a more reserved Wolf of Wall Street.  However, although the story isn't as crazy as I was hoping, there were plenty of ups and downs.  Viktor and Gerry's odyssey is interesting and has plenty of surprises to keep you interested. 

Rising High feels like a subdued Wolf of Wall Street, with a fun dynamic between the two faudsters and plenty of twists and turns in this story.

Rent it.