Männer

The version we tried to watch was "Men", dubbed into English. We couldn't stay the course, as the speech was so stilted and unnatural. I suspect that the German language version is much better, but we may not be able to find one here in northern New Mexico.

I watched this for my German film class. It was very funny. It also showed the level of immaturity men have, compared to women in certain situations. Julius was fanatical with the idea of getting his wife back from the "other man".

I loved the movie when watching it in the 80's and I enjoyed it just as much when watching it again recently. The main difference between now and then is that simple and almost forgotten things now striked my eyes like telephone cords, music tapes or minibikes.

The interaction between the two very different men, ambitious versus relaxed, is still good fun, while they are in love with the same woman. Especially the performance of Uwe Ochsenknecht as the relaxed part of the flat share is quite impressive. He manages to give his character Stefan a very good mix of easy going, sensitivity and sincerity. Only in the end Stefan gets very easily manipulated and tempted by money, what I found a bit disappointing.

Still, the movie has good conversations, stupid-clever male sayings about women and the acting is not overdone, not even in the shrillest situations. It is even believable that the two very different opponents little by little take a liking to each other, although it has to be said, that only one of them knows about their rivalry.

Overall, this makes a clear recommendation because it is good and intelligent entertainment.

The story is about an executive who finds that his wife is cheating on him with a bohemian artist who lives with two roommates, so he contrives to move in with this artist to find out why-and to slowly make him like himself. The artist kicks out his other male roommate, and the female roommate tries to hit up on the executive. This could have become an intense and exciting drama, but unfortunately it is mostly insipid and harmless, with a ridiculous ending, probably because the director couldn't think of anything better. Perhaps the idea was meant to explore male mentality, judging by the title, but the movie fails in that regard.

I had to see this movie for my German Film/Media class. I enjoyed watching it. I certainly laughed a lot. When it comes down to it, this movie is about what men think about women. As Julius and Stefan become friends, they constantly talk and complain about women. But neither of them can stay away from them. This only means one thing. No matter what men say about women, they just can't stay away from them.

My favorite character in this movie is Julius, the husband that comes up with a really fantastic plan to get his wife back from the unemployed artist, Stefan, a man his wife is having an affair with. He is determined to find out what his wife sees in this man. As he develops a close friendship with Stefan, Julius manages to turn him into an image of Julius himself. An image his wife does not find very attractive. I think this plan is very unusual, but very good and very funny. It's what makes this movie very interesting.

Definitely worth watching. Very funny. Very interesting. I highly recommend it!!