The Polka King — scrobble.life

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Reseña: El rey de la polca // Review: The Polca King@presidentx1545d

Me gusta el trabajo de Jack Black, algunas de mis comedias favoritas son School of Rock y Amor Ciego, en donde el actor destaca por su carisma. En “El rey de la polca” volvemos a verlo como protagonista en un título de comedia y biográfico. El título se estrenó el 2018 en Netflix. Fue dirigido por Maya Forbes y Wallace Wolodarsky.

I like Jack Black's work, some of my favorite comedies are School of Rock and Blind Love, where the actor stands out for his charisma. In "The Polka King" we see him again as the protagonist in a comedy and biographical title. The title premiered on 2018 on Netflix. It was directed by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky.

Fuente

Sinopsis: Jan Lewan es un polaco que vive en Pennsylvania, USA. El motivado por su visión del sueño americano quiere triunfar con su banda de polca y con sus negocios. Sin embargo, lo que al comienzo parecen pequeños préstamos para inversiones suyas, acaba formando todo un esquema Ponzi. A su vez, con sus familias y banda, tendrán que sobrellevar otro tipo de problemas, como una visita al papa o un concurso de belleza.

Synopsis: Jan Lewan is a Polish man living in Pennsylvania, USA. He motivated by his vision of the American dream wants to succeed with his polka band and his business. However, what at first seems like small loans for his investments, ends up forming a Ponzi scheme. In turn, with their families and band, they will have to cope with other problems, such as a visit to the pope or a beauty contest.

Si bien este título es una comedia, también es biográfica ya que cuenta la vida de Jan Lewan, su ascenso y caída. Es divertido ver al protagonista llevar a todos los que lo rodean a problemas más y más increíbles, conquistados por su innegable carisma. También trata el tema de cómo nos engañamos al creer algo falso, antes que encarar la difícil realidad. Considero que es una comedia aceptable, que nos cuenta algo curioso, de pasada que te avisa para no caer ante tentaciones demasiado buenas para ser verdad.

While this title is a comedy, it is also biographical as it tells the story of Jan Lewan's life, his rise and fall. It's fun to watch the protagonist lead everyone around him into more and more unbelievable trouble, won over by his undeniable charisma. It also deals with the theme of how we deceive ourselves by believing something false, rather than facing the difficult reality. I consider it an acceptable comedy, which tells us something curious, in passing that warns you not to fall into temptations that are too good to be true.

Fuente

En la actuación destacó el trabajo de Jack Black, como Jan Lewan, de Jason Schwartzman como Mickey Pizzaz y de Jacki Weaver como Barb. En la música, tenemos mucha polca e inclusive un intento de mezclarlo con rap, curioso al menos. En los escenarios es bastante dinámico, hay bastantes fiestas e inclusive un viaje a Europa.

In the acting, Jack Black as Jan Lewan, Jason Schwartzman as Mickey Pizzaz and Jacki Weaver as Barb stood out. In the music, we have a lot of polka and even an attempt to mix it with rap, curious at least. On the sets it's quite dynamic, there are quite a few parties and even a trip to Europe.

Me ha gustado esta comedia, al menos te cuenta una historia y lo hace de manera divertida. Si te gusta Jack Black, esta es una de sus películas que debes ver.

I liked this comedy, at least it tells you a story and does it in a funny way. If you like Jack Black, this is one of his must see movies.

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›The Polka King on Netflix@netflixr2139d
I put this one off for a while because Jack Black is one of those actors that I sometimes like and other times he just gets on my nerves with his fat face (Sorry Jack.) Later, I would read that this film is based on a real story that actually happened and was meant to be pretty close to the real events and since I love that sort of story, I decided to give it a go. I did not regret it because the film is actually a lot better than the plot or the name of the film would indicate.
[src](https://marcfusioncom.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/thepolkaking.jpg?w=816)
The story follow the live of Jan Lewan. An immigrant in Pennsylvania who has a penchant for putting on a performance on stage and also the gift of the gab out of his trinket store. Jan didn't mean to become a criminal, but it was the admiration of some elderly fans that gave him the idea to do it when they wanted to invest in his band. Out of nowhere, Jan offers them a guaranteed 12% return annually on their investment and also that they can have their money back whenever they want it. When the couple sees that Jan actually DOES pay the 12%, and realizes that this is a much better return than one can hope for on really any other type of investment, word spreads and Jan now finds himself running a Ponzi scheme.
[src](https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/the-polka-king-jack-black.jpeg?w=681&h=383&crop=1)
Jan is a likeable person and he has never been afraid of hard work at any point in his life. Upon arriving in America he took any job he could and worked as many hours as he could in order to "make it." This part of the movie connected with me in a personal way because although that is not how my life is now there was a time when I was working any job that I could, regardless of how dirty or un-glamorous it was, just to make as much money as I possibly could. Ironically, this work ethic of mine went out the window after attending university and becoming a bit of an alcoholic in the process.
[src](https://media2.fdncms.com/chicago/imager/u/original/39552942/jack-black-the-polka-king.jpg)
Jan continues to grow his "empire" getting television shows and starting travel companies in an attempt to legitimize the investments that he has taken from the people who trusted him with his money only to quickly realize that there is no way that any of the things that he is attempting to make money off of is going to make the sort of returns that is going to enable him to continue to pay the promised 12% return to all of the investors. Therefore, he must continually find new investors to keep the old investors placated and therein lies the is behind every Ponzi scheme that has ever existed.

The real Jan Lewan was a contributor on the film and in the little bit that they show of the real man, he seems as though he is probably a pretty likable dude, even if he did steal millions of dollars from people.

This film is not a traditional comedy and overall it is more dramatic than it is funny. Even though Jan Lewan is a criminal, it is difficult to not at least kind of sympathize with the man for trying so hard to please everyone all the time. If the film's story can be trusted (and from what I can read it can be) the real Jan Lewan never intended to be a criminal and is currently working as hard as he can (once again) in order to repay the more than 4 million dollars that he stole from people, who were primarily retirees anyway. Hopefully this movie can give his fame a bit of push to make that happen.

Should I watch it?
While I am not going to gush over this one, it is decent and it is a lot better than your average film starring Jack Black. He doesn't go over the top with his acting and shows a side of his acting chops that I think he excels at but doesn't use often enough - the serious side of Black. So since we are in a bit of an entertainment drought right now due to Covid, i think you could do a lot worse than "The Polka King." That being said, I wouldn't consider this to be a "must see" by any means.

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›The Polka King Trailer (2018) Jack Black@mediaguy3117d
I do like Jack Black, I wish he would make a tenacious d sequel instead of this. Not my cup of tea.

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