Girl on a Bicycle (2013) User Reviews (19)

A cheesy romp

[felisd · 7/10 · 15 July 2014]

I found this movie to be a fun, cheesy rom-com, and I say this as a person who's not usually a fan of rom-coms. I had a lot of fun spending time with these characters, and the plot was different enough that I didn't feel like I was watching the same stupid paint-by-numbers movie that rom-coms generally are.

The children were precocious, but not saccharine; the Italian lead could have had a little more emotion in his facial expressions, but otherwise, was a fairly solid lead, and the German fiancée was immensely likable, and made her dilemma - when she found out the truth - to be genuine and relatable. The British best friend was some nice eye-candy, and very likable as well, and the French girl on the bicycle and the womanizing Francois were also a lot of fun. I wouldn't mind hanging out with this bunch of people.

Overall, this movie isn't particularly deep, and it won't change your life if you watch it, but it would be a very enjoyable way to while away a rainy afternoon.

Predictable and Lightweight but Neither Awful or Super

[film_ophile · 6/10 · 13 July 2014]

Very much like a Hollywood RomCom (formulaic, predictable, fluffy romantic comedy)some of the other IMDb reviewers thought it was awful and some thought it super duper. For me, it was neither extreme. The lead actor carried his part well and the chemistry was fun and believable between him and his German girlfriend. After the bus incident, you could pretty much write the story yourself, but it was still enjoyable enough to watch it all develop (though I did consider fast-forwarding it in a few places.) The screenplay had a few very good lines, but they're gone from memory as I know the film will be by tomorrow.

weak rom light-weight com

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 10 November 2014]

Paolo Moretti (Vincenzo Amato) is an Italian who drives a Paris tour bus but according to him, everything in Paris is second rate compared to Italy. He proposes marriage to German stewardess Greta Kluge (Nora Tschirner) after living for almost 3 years together. Incompetent french model Cécile Laurent (Louise Monot) rides her bicycle beside his bus, and he is completely taken with her. Taking his friend Derek Meech (Paddy Considine)'s bad advise and due to a misunderstanding at the hospital, he gets involved with the french model and her kids. He hits her with his bus and now he has to take care of her. Meanwhile a french pilot friend keeps hanging around Greta.

The multi-lingual dialog throws me off. The leads speak with accents anyways and I rather have it subtitled. I wanted to see this for Paddy Considine but he only has a small role. The leads have limited comedic timing and the language differences causes even more problems on that front. This rom-com is pretty pedestrian and flimsy. It has a weak light-weight charm but then he's chasing another woman around and it becomes unromantic. So the rom is pretty bad. They make up for it by backpedaling on the cheating idea but then the misunderstanding could be so easily explained if he just tells her the truth (minus the chasing her for her number). The comedy does have its moments of charm like him in the airplane toilet forcing her to talk to him. It's cute but not much more.

No fun on this ride

[voyou-703-655350 · 3/10 · 18 June 2014]

For the sake of fairness, I have to say something to balance the other reviews. Shortly: This comedy isn't funny at all.

Characters have no screen presence, except for Mr Considine. They just ooze around and talk to each other, in many uninspired dialogue scenes that will quickly bore you.

The film lacks personality and energy. The plot may sound interesting, but it would have been better delivered as a short. Plus, the whole thing looks amateurish.

This is the kind of film you may watch on TV on a countryside stormy day, when chances of power cuts are higher, for you can miss several minutes about anywhere with no fear of getting lost.

A very funny romantic comedy, that is a great night out

[lpatterson83 · 8/10 · 29 October 2013]

This is a feel good movie that isn't dopey. It was well written, a farce with absurd situations that are believable. There are some great funny lines, be sure to catch them. The characters are all terrific and very likable. The scenes in Paris are beautiful

Actors are great, the two male leads have perfect comedic timing. The female leads are beautiful and will win your heart.

If you need a break from high-brow films that leave you feeling upset, go see this. It's a wonderful fun night out and for it's genre very well made.

This is a don't miss. Out on Valentine's Day (what could be more perfect?)

Not just your usual rom-com, very funny and entertaining.

[TxMike · 18 April 2014]

I came across this movie on Netflix streaming movies. Most of it is in English but there are subtitles for scant dialog in German, French, or Italian.

This really is an international story. The two main characters are Italian and German, he a tour bus guide in Paris and she a German flight attendant. The other two main characters are French and British. Thrown all together, it works!

Vincenzo Amato is the Italian tour, Paolo, guide in Paris. As he takes tourists around he is fond of mentioning that real Italian architectural features are best seen in Italy.

He has been living for some time with Nora Tschirner as the German flight attendant Greta. He has finally decided to buy a ring and propose to her, and she accepts. She is the love of his life and he says he can't live without her.

Then one day as his bus is stopped at a traffic intersection a pretty French woman on a bicycle pulls up next to his driver's window. He sees her, she glances at him and smiles, then traffic movies. This happens again on another day and soon he feels that he MUST meet her. His British friend encourages him.

So the movie is about the complication this "girl on a bicycle" brings to Paolo's life, will this wreck his plans to marry Greta? Quite different from the usual USA rom-com, I really had fun with this movie.

(As an aside, Nora Tschirner reminds me so much of Jenna Fischer of 'The Office' and several movies, they resemble each other and their acting styles are very similar.)

SPOILERS: When Paolo inadvertently hits the girl with his bus, she ends up in the hospital. To check on her he has to tell the staff he is her husband. Then her two kids show up and call him dad. He takes the girl back to her apartment and, she being in a cast with no one else around, decides to take care of her, feed the kids, make sure they get to school. All this he does without telling Greta, getting up very early, he says to go jogging, and finally getting home after Greta is in bed. Eventually all comes out, and on the plane, Paolo threatens to stay in the toilet, preventing the plane from landing, until Greta agrees to forgive him.

Meh -- Nora Tschirner was the best part of this film for me

[Sasha_Lauren · 4/10 · 24 January 2020]

Girl on a Bicycle is an irreverent, half baked romantic comedy that has a few funny moments tucked into a fim whose premise is both unbelievable and uncomfortable. Many of the jokes are about stereotypes, gendar roles, and other sophomoric topics.

Paolo is an Italian tour bus driver in Paris. His fiancé, Greta, is a German Flight Attendant. Paolo becomes smitten to the point of obsession with Cécile, a beautiful French woman on a bicycle. He follows her several times with his tour bus, (putting his passengers in jeopardy); the last he follows her, he actually hits Cécile with the bus. Oops. Hate when that happens.

She suffers a broken leg and arm, which renders her unable to care for her two adorable children, Julian, six, and Claire, five, who are in need of a father since their's flew the coop years before. Instead of being arrested, Paolo ends up taking care of Cécile and the kids, who fall in love with their stand-in father, a deed that he hides from his fiance, Greta. Eventually Greta, (played well by Nora Tschirner), gets suspicious, and follows him.

The lightness felt awkward given the film's topic and execution. The few laughs weren't worth the overall cringe-worthy elements for me.

Fun Romantic Comedy

[unsound-77111 · 8/10 · 27 June 2015]

I had to create a quick account just to review this movie. It was truly fun. It's standard romantic comedy in a lot of ways with the innocent misunderstandings and the best friend support.

Seeing all the sites in Paris and all of the humor about the different cultures and language misunderstandings set it apart from a typical rom/com though and made it hilarious and interesting at the same time. Most of the movie is in English and as an American it is amazing watching the actors switch easily from one language to another.

As to reviewer who is criticizing the German acting..I really don't know what he is talking about. I thought the female lead was hilarious and that she could have a career in Hollywood. Who the other Germans are..I don't know. The other leads are french, Italian and English.

Watch this movie for the humor and sweetness first and then for the sites of Paris.

He's engaged to a really neat lady....so why is he obsessed with a stranger on a bicycle?

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 7 August 2021]

"Girl on a Bicycle" is a confusing film. While there is much to like in this romantic comedy, it also manages to do some very unromantic things which might make it tough to watch...especially for a date night.

Paolo and Greta live together in Paris and when the story begins, he asks her to marry him. The scene is quite cute and it's really easy to like the characters...especially Greta. Then, something odd happens which isn't romantic at all. While Paolo is out driving his tour bus, he sees a pretty lady on a bicycle and begins obsessing about her...even though Greta is a terrific woman and they're engaged. I don't know about you, but this seems out of place with a rom-com. I cannot imagine anything romantic about becoming engaged and then obsessing about another woman unless the fiancee is evil in some way...and this isn't the case. In fact, the other woman, to me, seems far less likable and a bit flighty.

When Paolo tells his friend about his obsession, the friend recommends he actually talk to the woman...then he'll realize she's not better than the fiancee. Odd advice, I know. However, instead of just asking her for her phone number, he stalks her with a bus full of people...nearly killing them as he speeds down the narrow Parisian streets. Then, after he catches up to her, he accidentally runs her over! Then, after she's released from the hospital, he takes her home and cares for her and her two kids. Funny? No. Cute. No.

Now comes another problematic part. The children think that Paulo is their long lost father and they call him Papa again and again...and he never corrects them and tells them the truth. This really doesn't make any sense...and took me out of the story....as did his chasing their mother. Plus, Paolo is either going to hurt these children very badly or his fiancee. None of this seemed romantic nor funny....just confusing. Plus, he treats sweet Great abominably...which is infuriating.

As a result, I was NOT thrilled with the plot at all and think it really hindered the movie. It's a shame as there area few nice performances and the film has a nice look and sound to it...but the story just isn't romantic...it's confusing. I can see why the film has many review that love it...and just as many that hate it.

By the way, this French-German co-production is unusual in that the dialog is in French, German, Italian and, mostly, English...which is odd since the film is set in Paris and neither of the main characters are native English speakers. When I saw it on DVD, naturally the first three languages were captioned...but the English wasn't and really should have been due to some heavy accents (particularly by Vincenzo Amato (Paolo).

Technically well made but terribly unromantic...which make it a very disappointing rom-com.

irresistible and enchanting, with a modern twist

[MonsieurMS · 7 July 2018]

This is simply adorable. Funny, often laugh out loud funny, this is a multilingual exposition of temptation, romance, longing and love with the type of twists that, yes, you tend to get in Europe, not the USA. There's no formula as such. It's not prudish. Yet, this is both wistful and amusing with a heartfelt core. You can't go wrong. From the opening scene of the stewardess and the engineer, the chuckles start and don't stop. It's a lot of fun.

Nice romance with nice mixed Italian/French comedy :)

[Aktham_Tashtush · 5/10 · 26 February 2015]

The story is nice , new idea ,, the plot escalates smoothly , but it was a bit slow maybe cause the language was mixed between french, Italian, German and English as a second language !! The thing is i imagined if the cast would be all native English speakers if it would get any better ,, but it would change the whole idea of an Italian marrying German girl and hit a french one ;) so generally it all worked out ,

There were some comedy bits , reasonably laughable especially when the Italian guy talks about how Paris is the most Italian city outside of Italy :D .

the Set in Paris is amazing , and that's coming from a guy who was in Paris once. anyway,, it was a good movie :)

Hilarious movie set in Paris, . . .

[oscaralbert · 10/10 · 20 February 2014]

. . . France, which has the added bonus of being mostly in English. When there are subtitled passages in a GIRL ON A BICYCLE, they are just as likely to be spoken in German or Italian as in French. Further, the character of Paolo (played by Vincenzo Amato), an Italian tour bus driver based in Paris, is quite good at pointing out how all the quintessential highlights of "French" culture are actually Italian. As you can see, this charming romantic comedy has a lot going for it from the get go. Throw in an ill-fated soap commercial shoot, a madcap tour bus-bicycle chase scene through some fairly narrow streets, and some Hijinks on airliners, and you have the recipe for a flick that kept the audience in stitches during my showing. Nora Tschirner is fetching as Paolo's lover of three years who's nobody's fool, and Louise Monot is appropriately alluring as the title character (though maybe not so much up close and personal). Paddy Considine rounds out the quartet of main characters as Paolo's fellow tour guide, cleverly stepping into the breach to save a situation looking hopelessly muddled.

Spoiler Alert: This Movie is So Bad

[leftbanker-1 · 1/10 · 24 July 2016]

One Star = Awful on the IMDb voting guide. Yes, Awful. I couldn't have said it better myself. Here is a little hint for film makers: if you are trying to make a comedy try hiring humor writers and don't just imitate lousy sight gags you've seen in other films. Here are a few things that aren't funny: falling down, soap flying out of someone's hand, jokes about imperfectly speaking a foreign language, chasing a bike with a tour bus, running a girl on a bike over with a tour bus, and everything else in this movie that tried to pass itself off as humor. Had he killed her with the bus it could have been good for a laugh.

They did an even worse job at romance.

One Of The Best Light Hearted Comedy Film Ever Made

[FilmMan47 · 10/10 · 17 May 2014]

Girl on a bicycle 2013 is truly one of the best film ever made its light hearted,funny & filled with messages this not for only comedy lovers but for anyone who loves films this film is for audience members only strictly not for critics there are many movies made before this but this one is a true gem i am surprised that why this is not more famous & very few people have seen this i was lucky to see this today i enjoyed every minute of it.

The Plot:Paolo is tour bus driver in Paris he has just proposed to his girlfriend Greta a German stewardess but when a young & beautiful girl Cecile who rides a bicycle stops on a signal besides his bus he feel connected but one day he runs her over from his bus she is injured & now he has to take care of Cecile & her 2 children soon this leads to confusions & hilarious situations till the climax.

The Cast:its not a big budget film but the cast the director Jeremy Leven has assembled is pure fantastic Vincenzo Amato,Nora Tschirner & Louise Monot all of these actors have done a fabulous job.

I wont discuss any further as it will take time i have to say do not miss this film please its shot in France on great locations & will kinda remind you of Amelie starting Audrey Tauto.

Overall Girl On A Bicycle 2013 is a new age classic & future cult film its heavily underrated my rating is 10/10:Recommended.A Must See.

Horrible Wannabe-Comedy

[Zettelhead · 1/10 · 2 February 2015]

In Germany we got some horrible actors (due to a vast amount of cheap and unbearable TV-production) and obviously the worst of them were casted for this movie. If the Italian and french actors were any good was hard to tell, because the aura of incompetence of their German colleagues was just overwhelming. Sometimes it is possible even to do a good movie with bad actors when you give them the right roles and commands, but the director of "Girl on a Bicycle" obviously was not able to do it. I tried to concentrate just on the script an imagined some decent actors to speak it, but that did not work either. It was so horrible that I had to switch it of after 20 minutes. No second chance. It caused too much pain.

Queasy, slapstick- unsure if it's a sex romp or a family comedy.

[mush-2 · 18 February 2014]

The movie is sometimes a sex romp and sometimes a family comedy. But it made me kind of queasy, especially, with the gratuitous nude scene of the klutzy model is an unfunny bit of slapstick, filming a commercial where she is unable to hold onto a bar of soap and keeps hitting the director in the head with the soap. These sort of scenes are grafted onto a sentimental plot where a very horny tour guide operator discovers a love for young children and family. This plot is set in gear by a mom who somehow allows her children to be attended to by the male stranger. At one point, the tykes tell the guy whom they confuse with their dad, , "aren't you going to bathe us?" Luckily, we are spared seeing that unsettling moment actualized.

The movie has a cheesy Euro pop score that does it no favors as it floats in and out of the action.

This is one of those movies whose plot could have easily been resolved with an ordinary conversation between the characters. Instead they are forced to adhere to the inane storyline and come off as brain addled libertines. Even the sensible flight attendant Greta has to act like a moron allowing her fiancé to lock himself in the plane's bathroom until she capitulates. Of course, the plane load of passengers serenade the lovers as they make up...I was getting a little airsick during that scene.

While it has some pretty travelogue sections , the movie over all does not succeed.

Awful

[tlharrison-59546 · 1/10 · 2 November 2020]

I had to watch this movie for a class I'm in and it was ROUGH. I believe I paused three times to get away from it for a while. Can we be done with movies where the leading male is 15+ years older than his female love interest? Love who you love but this type of casting is so overdone and you would never see that age gap reversed in a movie unless it was central to the plot or even mentioned. This movie is garbage and the scene on the plane toward the end of the movie made me wanna throw a brick at my TV.

From me, this is a "must watch" movie

[omilkov · 10/10 · 17 February 2017]

I was a bit suspicious, when I watched the trailer, but after seeing the beginning, I instantly fell in love with it. I do watch many rom coms, but this one charmed me with the mixture of languages, those subtle lines, that turned out to be funny and the overall kindness that Paolo gave to us, even though he is Italian. I know, people do have a tendency to create stereotypes, but this movie shows that it's not always how it seems.

We need more movies like this!

Very enjoyable

[lgj-98933 · 10/10 · 21 June 2018]

A fine example of what romantic comedy should be. Funny, sexy, and a bit silly. Well written, acted, and directed. We loved it!