Keinohrhasen

In writer-director-star Til Schweiger's second directorial outing, "Rabbit Without Ears" (following a semi-refreshing "Barefoot"), he plays yet another hedonistic Teutonic cad spun round by an unlikely, socially awkward girl. It's an overly familiar romantic comedy that trades on European sensibilities for a distinctively American atmosphere.

Just as in "Barefoot" (a love story of a self-involved cad and a depressively sweet escapee from a psych hospital with an aversion to footwear), Schweiger uses the same sort of emotional modulation – with a touch of transparent manipulation and a fair amount of feel-good montages – to present its apparent mainstream appeal of the adorable differences between men and women. You could transplant everything here from a Frankfurt to New York setting while a Matthew McConaughey could easily play Schweiger's dapper hunk and a Sandra Bullock could slot in as his female co-star Nora Tschirner – the latter being a dead ringer for the Hollywood star.

So what's a rabbit without ears but just another flaw to be overcome? Schweiger plays Ludo, a paparazzi reporter who sees his work and women as one venture. Till, he messes up and gets 300 hours of community service at a local day-care facility run by an ex-classmate, the frumpily attractive Anna (played by Tschirner) who still harbours an improbable resentment of Ludo and his teasing over 20 years ago.

But what's even more dubious is how easily these set-ups and facades drop to accommodate the inevitability of its central pairing. Ludo finds his redemption being surrounded by enamoured toddlers while Anna falls deeply into a void of self-esteem, which is to say into the arms of the obliviously receptive Ludo. It could just as readily be named "Men Are Dogs and the Women Who Love Them".

Schweiger lazily allows the strings to be seen. There are scenes so ludicrously over the top and undeveloped that questions about the writing and editing have to be raised. Characters cease to act like they were written and anachronistic scenes mar emotional pay-offs that could have been promising given the film's punchy performances and frequently wry dialogue.

Sex is fundamental to these upwardly mobile Germans, but the utter puerility of sex-faces and loud restaurant reveals aside, the understated view on sexual politics is particularly lurid. The strongly defined angular features of Schweiger augments an ability to convey quick nods of sympathetic posturing – an incredibly useful tool that belies Ludo's selfish actions and blurs the perception beyond acceptable behaviour and the resulting consequences of its main pairing. Schweiger needs to rediscover the sweet emotionality of his previous film and disregard the rank superficiality of this film.

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!!!

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.

If, like me, you're in it for the nanny (Nora Tschirner), you're bound to be disappointed. True, you get to see lovely Nora in the nude, but for 114 out of the movie's 115 minutes, she is wearing her spinster glasses, crow's nest hairdo and embroidered cardigan. For her character Anna, it's a Cinderella story minus the ball gown. She doesn't even change for the red carpet. But once you do away with the babe alert, "Keinohrhasen" is actually pretty funny. I can't believe I'm saying this, but writer-director Til Schweiger obviously knows both women and kids. Pleasant surprises include his daughter Emma in the part of jet set baby Chayenne Blue and Brigitte Zeh as her foxy celebrity mum. Oh, and if, like me, you can't get over Nora, check out "Ijon Tichy", last year's groundbreaking miniseries set in space. From now on, no self-respecting starship commander will get by without a hot hologram in a 1960s micro skirt.

I gotta admit, up till now I have neither been a big fan of Til Schweiger nor of German movies in general. But I changed my mind after watching Keinohrhasen. I simply loved it. Yes, it is completely predictable (what romantic comedy isn't?) and yes, there are a few inconsistencies and even some unnecessary scenes - but who cares?! The chemistry between Til and Nora is - surprisingly - just great, the story is classic, but so beautiful and I can't remember the last time I laughed so hard in any movie.

All in all, even though I'm not a big romantic, I was, to my own surprise, somehow very touched by this movie and I enjoyed it very much, I laughed, I cried, I sympathized - the perfect entertainment. I will definitely buy it on DVD.