Keinohrhasen

Keinohrhasen has absolutely swept me off my feet. This romantic comedy will make you laugh, cry and day-dream from the first minute until the last second. The movie is probably the best German romantic comedy I have ever seen. Everything about this movie is amazing: the great story, the funny and intelligent dialogues, the high quality pictures, the perfect setting in wonderful Berlin, and of course the superb cast. Til Schweiger has managed to shoot a movie classic; this film will find its place in German movie history. The cast reads like the "who is who" of German cinema and delivers some unforgettable acting performances. I think Nora Tschirner and Matthias Schweighoefer will soon be recognized as two of the biggest young acting stars not only in Germany. In combination with the hilarious story and the stellar camera work, Keinohrhasen will set a new standard for romantic comedies. Don't miss this gem and book a flight to Berlin to see it – it's your dollars well spent…. :-). Run to Berlin!!!

I haven't heard much about that movie prior but had seen a very short preview recently. And this movie was a very pleasant surprise (unlike most of the German productions). Till Schweiger known in the USA from rather serious roles, has become popular in Germany because of all his hilarious and humorous pictures. Again in Keinohrhase he is totally taken up with that funny but also dressy womanizer 'Ludo' who is working as a gossip reporter, always going prey on explosive pictures from local stars. After a very tricky shoot on an important star happening which ends in an éclat he is sentenced to do community service for a not insubstantially period of time at a kindergarten where he meets his unimposing school mate Anna and destiny continued to unfold. It is a very romantic and hilarious picture, which could have been normally attributed to kitschy Hollywood. But as it arises from a German production it appears to be a bit fresher than any plain American romance. It is not really kind of a new plot but it directly goes into your heart due to a disarming love story which is pepped up with great actors who are doing very funny and bright dialogs. Its absolutely spot-on for Christmas. Best Scene is the intro with Jürgen Vogel

This is once again typical German big city-curious characters romance story. Til Schweiger plays Ludo Dekker a libertine who is condemned to make 600 hours of social work in a children's home. There works Anna (Nora Tschirner). In their childhood Dekker was terrible to Anna. So far the starting constellation. But it's a comedy with happy ending. The beauty of such films is to observe the slight variations from one story to another and how the extravagant figures come along and end up together to make the perfect match. I understand that it's a very special kind of humor that doesn't suite everybody. Nevertheless I liked this big city story very much. Funy slapstick situations, nice dialogs, sweet plot, wonderful characters, good acting, and splendid Berlin as a fantastic supporting actor.

When a director stars in his own movie, it can sometimes be a recipe for disaster. They just give all the screen time to themselves and it becomes a self indulgent mess like in case of "Dances with Wolves". If done correctly they are able to use the actor within themselves to their full potential as they know their own limits.

This is the latter case. Til Schweiger again plays a cynical guy who seems to immune to love or affection. He has given a wonderful performance and done an admirable job in directing as well. He reprises the character he plays in Barfuss, which also has a very similar feel to this film. I saw him in this movie first so I like it much more. Of course Barfuss is almost as good, and I recommend it if you have liked this movie.

Also the scenes with Jürgen Vogel were hilarious.

Achtung, this is a German comedy! Well, actually the movie is a lot better than what I expected (I painfully remember sitting through a few boring German comedies... Ja!).

The film's first third is very promising - unfortunately there are two other thirds which lack imagination and creativity. Especially the last third is more than lame. The movie makers obviously had used up all of their ideas before.

Til Schweiger proves to be a reliable and sympathetic actor. But he should do something about his voice. He would do himself a favor if he managed to lower it a little bit and get more melody into his way of speaking.

They say that Nora Tschirner is one of Germany's most popular young actresses. I can understand that. She delivers a convincing portrayal of an erotically retarded young woman whose seductive aura equals zero. What I didn't understand was the reason why she has to do two brief, totally superfluous nude scenes. What we get to see is really not that remarkable. At the same time, the bare chest easily destroys some of the ambiguity that Tschirner tries to put into her character.

In short: Enjoy the clever beginning, but prepare for an unsatisfying ending enriched with some clichés.