Men Do what Men Can (2012)

So much average

Nice effects though.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

"Mann tut was Mann kann" is a German 2012 film directed by André Rothemund. Let me start by saying that whoever came up with this horrible play on words, should never work in the movie industry again. I have seen some of the director's work and have to say he is great in making films with strong female central characters (Academy Award nominee "Sophie Scholl"), but a comedy centering about a male, played by Wotan Wilke Möhring, is certainly not his area of expertise. What is especially unsatisfying is that Gerat's character is written horribly and the same goes for pretty much all other female characters (all very attractive, but little beyond the surface). Very disappointing, especially looking at Rothemund's convincing approach to female characters in the past. They say that too many cooks spoil the broth and this may apply here as the film was written by no less than five people, including the movie's director.On a side-note, this movie could also have been called "Männerherzen", but anyway... There are a couple scenes that just did not work for me. One would be why would a woman admit to her parents that she is into girls and will leave for a long time to travel abroad? Well, why not, but the real question is why would she do so at the table in the presence of an almost-complete stranger? Then the whole sex-with-other-guy-to-force-true-love-to-marry-her plot was just stupid and unrealistic. If she really loved him, she would never have done that. It's not even absurd in a comedic way, just completely random and stupid. And finally, the whole way the indecent offer that Gerat's character makes him. I am not sure if it was just badly written or badly acted, but I guess a mix of both. Very cringeworthy scene.The cast includes some of Germany's most famous actors: Möhring, Korittke (for the funny parts), Liefers and Yildim. About Liefers (similar character again to what he always plays), I thought initially, he would be an antagonist to Möhring's character, but things turned out he is a friend. I found him very unlikeable though and the main character was not exactly a favorite of mine either. The music included in the movie was okay though.All in all, I do not recommend this movie. I hoped maybe the ending could save it, but the wedding crashers part was as chaotically unsatisfying as the rest of the film. There are many many better German (comedy) films out there and I really wonder why they even came up with a sequel (came out this year) if the first was already a miss for most of its over 100 minutes.

It had been quite a while since I last saw a good German comedy movie. And this one really hit it's marks. If I had to think of one thing, that might not be completely up to the task, it'd be the casting of the female lead. While Jasmin is a pretty woman and one that seems to pop up in most (if not all) the major German movies in the last years, she's not the most convincing in the acting department.But that is nit-picking, same would ring true for criticizing the movie, for not having a heavier and meatier part on the woman side. But it is true of course, that the movie does concentrate on the male cast. The way it is written though makes you appreciate it! The roles are defined and no scene is unnecessary. Either funny and developing the character(s) or continuing the story further down the road. Wotan is the lead and it refreshingly seeing him given the opportunity to act the way he can. One of the better movies to come out of Germany in the recent years

I thought this movie was worth seeing. This was the first movie I saw in Germany (Emden) without Dutch subtitles and I liked it. Usually I think German movies can be truly good like the Edukators, Sophie Sholl, Gegen die Wand and for instance Barbara (latest serious movie I saw - a must see!) but not funny... (were not meant to be as such) - this one is! All the characters are different and sincere, the story line is sweet and there were many moments in this film that I really had to laugh out loud; comparable to Love Actually for instance. If you want to have a nice evening out and want to see a feel good movie do not hesitate! Some actors you might know from Tatort which also can be very good every now and then, but you have to lucky with that (depends on couple and city it is located).