Rising High: Cüneyt Kaya’s film is reasonably entertaining, but the similar stories have been told where either they were more informative, the character study was deeper (or both), therefore more interesting. The short runtime ends up being a handicap, as it allows for neither of those things. The film’s strength is its cast: David Kross’ babyface makes him credible as a con-man people implicitly trust; Frederick Lau sells well the street-smart of his character (helped by a smart choice of wardrobe style), and Janina Uhse is charming and smart. The film has a very polished look, from the well-chosen costumes to the nicely decorated locations, all competently captured by cinematographer Sebastian Bäumler; Maren Unterburger’s editing does what it can to hide how shallow the story is.