Rabbit Without Ears 2 (2009)

Strong and Moving!

Captivating movie !

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Til Schweiger's "Keinohrhasen" was a massive commercial success in Germany, so of course id did not take too long till they came up with a second movie. The central characters are just like in the first Til Schweiger, Matthias Schweighöfer and Nora Tschirner.I thought the film started very weak with humor on great breast size and farting in people's faces, but as it went on, it got better. It never reached the level of the first movie, but all in all it's a decent outcome. There is some male-female discussion about shoes which reminded me of Loriot the way it was written. In the first film, Jürgen Vogel played himself in a cameo and here in this movie, Heiner Lauterbach and Uwe Ochsenknecht, two of Germany's most known actors over 55 play small, but funny roles.While the first film was about Schweiger's and Tschirner's characters getting together, this film is about struggles they are facing during everyday life, especially as former partners of them enter the picture. Then there is a sub-plot with Schweighöfer's character which walked the fine line between funny and cringeworthy and occasionally even crossed it for worse. The ending of this 2-hour-film was one of its weaknesses in my opinion. First of all, the fact that they sleep with their exes at exactly the same time felt weird to me and the harmonic ending seemed just rushed in and included for the sake of it. It was extremely cheesy.There is lots of music in this one, but the only kinda memorable song for me was "This Is The Life" by Amy McDonald. It was not as successful as the first, but still became the 6th most lucrative film at the box office in 2009 and number 2 if you only count German films. As a whole, I recommend "Zweiohrküken" (chicken with two ears) to people who enjoyed "Keinohrhasen" ("rabbits with no ears"). Just like its prequel, it was written and directed by Anika Decker (who has the same name like the central character) and Schweiger himself, who also directed it again. We'll see if they ever make a third one. If they do, i just hope the decrease in quality won't continue. The only thing better than the first is that Alwara Höfels (one of the biggest weaknesses of "Keinohrhasen") is pretty much nonexistent in this sequel.

This film has massive problems, starting with an embarrassingly thin plot: girl suspicious of boyfriend, boyfriend gets defensive, girlfriend gets defensive in turn, both partners cheat on each other, they kiss and make up. The end.While telling this 'story', we are treated to low-brow jokes, little character development, and sexist notions about relationships. Ludo is so annoying and childish, you end up wanting Anna to cheat. And then break up, so we don't have to watch any more sequels.The children in the film seem to serve no other purpose than to make Ludo a bit more bearable (after all, the kids like him better than Ralf), and to allow for closure of this far too long film. Even the musical score is ill-matched. One star for the camera-work, with a very nice shot across the water at the end. A pitiful effort.

I had already been a fan of Til Schweiger before seeing this film. I read about it that it did not receive the recognition it deserved. I had seen Til Schweiger in quite a few other films and I was interested to see his ability to perform in a drama setting. We had seen a bit of this in the film Driven in 2001, and his performance was outstanding. He stole the show, with his ability to become his character. But I noticed that when he doesn't say anything, he is still able to convey what is going on in the scene with just his emotions. Not many actors/actresses have mastered this ability and this is part of the appeal of watching him on screen.This movie had both funny, awkward, and dramatic moments, that it all dealt with extremely well. I would recommend this film even to people who do not like reading subtitles. But part of the beauty of watching a film in another language is leaving it in it's intended language, as many scenes can be lost in translation. If you pay close attention to body language and the emotions involve, it's easy to perceive what is lost in translation.My rating of this film, I would gladly pay to see it more than once and I intend to buy it on DVD. To my surprise, it was not available on stream, and the previous film from 2007 is not available either. This is very discouraging, but if you buy it or rent it somewhere, you will not be disappointed.This wasn't my first film to watch in German and read subtitles. It won't be the last. The German film industry needs more recognition and that's surprising to come from an American, born and raised. But it's true and German films are worth every penny. It kind of makes me want to learn the language and experience the beauty of their culture after watching this movie. I hope someone else enjoys this film as much as I did.Thanks to Til Schweiger for writing, directing, and acting this great piece of modern day masterpiece. Please continue to make great things and do good. We love your work and you as a very talented individual.

I was curious where this story was going to. In part 1 (I'm guessing you have seen that, so no spoilers for the sequel, but for part 1) Til was a reporter, for a tabloid newspaper, but by the end of it, he committed to be work at a Kindergarden. Plus it seemed Tils character and Noras were about to start one very good relationship. But the way the movie starts is a marathon of clichés (about relationships and men/women respectively). And it's not done in a funny way either ... you just get scene after scene, wondering when the movie actually is going to start or not.Of course you might think this is nit-picking and if you watched the movie and liked it, good for you. I wished I could have, but I couldn't really like it (even though there are a few nice scenes, that do not involve excrement or other premature jokes) ...