With all due respect: Otto Waalkes surely was a cult-figure, but never a brilliant comedian. One couldn't have imagined the 70's and 80's German comedy-scene without Otto and a whole generation knew his stand-up-repertoire virtually by heart. But as said: this wasn't highly intellectual humor a la Loriot or Gerhard Polt, but rather a fast coming barrage of silly jokes, slapstick, spiced with media-references, musical-spoofs and, of course, Ottos particular grimaces and "bunny hops". If one would need to compare him to an American comedian, Jerry Lewis might well be the best name (Benny Hill, in case you're British).
Otto's first feature was a hit at the box-office, containing everything that his fans had come to expect from him, plus a small army of cameos and guest-appearances. The second movie was a bit of a let-down, mainly because many of the jokes were recycled and many participants gave a rather lackluster performance, but the low-point came with "Otto – Der Liebesfilm".
Once again Waalkes plays the clumsy but lovable countryside bumpkin who seeks his fortune in the big city. Amor, the god of love (also Waalkes) in the meantime is forced out of retirement and fires his love-arrows at Otto and Tina (Jessika Cardinahl). In addition to this storyline Otto must save a rich patron of the art (sovereign as always: Ruth-Maria Kubitschek) from her treacherous business-partner (slimy as always: Juraj Kukura) So far, so good. No, actually not. So far, same procedure as usually. Waalkes hasn't progressed or developed an inch of his routine since the late 70's (and he wouldn't do so until this day, where he is merely a sad caricature of his self, even sticking to his Otto-persona during interviews and annoying to no end). The jokes, parodies and spoofs are as stale and outdated as Ottos giggling, grimacing and his hopping around. Imagine a film where the highlight is "Scorpions"-Singer Klaus Meine appears as himself, whistling (can you guess it), the "Scorpions"-Hit "Wind of Change". Hilarious, isn't it? Not really. There is no "Wind of Change" here, but only the tepid smell of stagnancy.
3/10
