This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Sandra Huller (left), and Peter Simonischek in a scene from ‘Toni Erdmann’. (AP)

‘Toni Erdmann’ is a hard film to love, but that might be the point.

The German movie from the clearly talented and incisive writer/director Maren Ade seems like it should be a comedy — the lightly plotted character study is about a father trying to introduce some chaos into his adult daughter’s overworked life — but it’s far too cutting and uncomfortable to generate much joy.It all hinges on how you view the father, Winifried, played by actor Peter Simonischek. Winifried is a hearty-looking man, likely in his 60s, who has a mop of unruly gray hair and a penchant for what might generously be described as pranks. He keeps a set of fake teeth in his shirt pocket which he’ll pop in from time to time when he wants to take on one of his personas. He’ll do this with delivery people, strangers, his mother and his extended family. But those on the receiving end never seem all that amused by Winifried’s antics. Strangers don’t quite know what to do with him, and his family just kind of disregard his oddities through clenched teeth. Both kinds of interactions can be almost painful to watch and even after two viewings I can’t get a handle on how the movie wants us to see him, especially once he decides to concentrate all of his efforts on his 30-something daughter, Ines (Sandra Hüller).After seeing Ines, serious, stressed and tethered to her phone at a family gathering, Winifried decides to surprise her with a visit to Bucharest, where her consulting job has stranded her recently. He waits for Ines in the lobby of an office building, and when she walks in with clients, he pops in the teeth and puts on a pair of sunglasses and walks up close to the group of business people. Ines doesn’t break her stride, going right into the elevator complex. Did she see him? Did she not? It turns out she did, she just chose to ignore him. Her assistant runs out soon after to catch Winifried and say hello on behalf of her boss and invite him to a reception later that day. You can probably guess how that goes.These two might as well be strangers, and Winified’s presence is a disruptive one in Ines’ highly structured life. As he tries harder to get her to lighten up, she seems to get even more tense and stressed.Eventually Winifried tells Ines he’s leaving, only to come back and surprise her once more, this time as Toni Erdmann — fake teeth, crazy black wig and all. He tells one of her co-workers that he’s a life coach. He tells a woman at a party that he’s the German Ambassador. And Toni becomes Ines’ companion, from the club to the countryside and at the random places he gets invited to.RealityThe everyday relationship between adult parents and their adult children is one that the movies don’t often explore, unless there’s some reason for everyone to be together — an illness, a death, a fraught holiday. It’s refreshing to just have that reality be the basis for a character study, minus the tragedy, and clocking in at 162 minutes “Toni Erdmann” certainly gives this experiment room to breathe, and then some. And there’s a freedom in going through this ordeal with two actors whom most American audiences don’t know. But, goodness, can it be difficult to embrace most of the time.And yet, amid all the discomfort, there are two genuinely transcendent sequences that close out the movie. One involves Whitney Houston’s “Greatest Love of All” and the other, a final, legitimately hysterical release for Ines. What it all amounts to is for the individual to decide. The revelations aren’t big, but “Toni Erdmann” is not that kind of movie.“Toni Erdmann,” a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for “strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language and brief drug use.” Running time: 162 minutes. Three stars out of four.Five films into an increasingly acclaimed career, Jeff Nichols, Variety’s Creative Impact in Directing honoree, keeps hitting firsts. His directorial debut, 2007’s “Shotgun Stories,” was not only his first film, but had its world premiere at the Berlin fest, marking Nichols’ introduction to the international fest circuit.Follow-up “Take Shelter” bowed at Sundance and screened at Cannes, his first time at each fest; “Mud,” Nichols’ first Cannes premiere, was also his first time working with A-list talent (Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon); and “Midnight Special,” released in early 2016, was his first film for a major studio (Warner Bros.).But it’s Nichols latest film, “Loving,” that could draw another first: Oscar nominations. Tipped as a best picture contender since it was unveiled at Cannes in May, the film, inspired by the powerful true story of Richard and Mildred Loving, is also a strong nomination possibility in adapted screenplay, directing, and acting bids for its Golden Globe-nominated leads Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga.The Lovings were at the center of the landmark Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia, which struck down laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the US. And Few filmmakers could tell their story with the level of authenticity and respect the Arkansas-born Nichols brings. He has established himself as an auteur poet of the American South. He makes films about people often overlooked in Hollywood, and makes them without a drop of either condescension or self-importance.The quiet, understated “Loving” takes its cues from the characters’ unassuming personalities and tranquil rural environment, to tell a groundbreaking, and frequently infuriating, piece of history in a modest and thoughtful fashion. The approach unexpectedly heightens the emotional impact, by placing the tender and pure relationship between Richard and Mildred above any of the traditional courtroom theatrics or racially charged melodrama one might expect from a typical “social issue” movie.Still, the connection between the events of the film, which take place over a decade beginning in 1958, and the political strife of today could not be more evident. “Loving” invites a conversation about America’s tortured history of civil rights and racial and gender discrimination, while echoing the more recent victories in the battle for marriage equality.That’s something the Lovings themselves never could’ve anticipated, they simply wanted the right to be together, but contemporary audiences can’t miss. As Nichols told Variety’s Kris Tapley on the Playback podcast, “Their story hasn’t changed but the social dynamic has changed. ... We are having, and need to be having, complex conversations about race in this country, and about equality in general, and the Lovings remain this constant example of humanity.” (Agencies)By Lindsey Bahr