Alex und der Löwe

Alex and leo.. or, in deutschland, Alex und der Löwe. Written, produced, and acted by André Schneider. At least he didn't also direct... that's frequently the kiss of death for films. Leo (schlutt) has recent come out, and pines for alex (schneider). But alex has just dumped his cheating partner, and doesn't want to settle down right away. And has a great support group of friends who hang on a regular basis. All good. When all this is verbalized, suddenly alex is standing out in the hallway, holding his clothes. That part didn't feel right... two guys, who had just been very intimate, but have a disagreement would have that bad a blowup that now alex is standing in the hall, completely undressed? Didn't really make sense. Aside from that, it's mostly good. We get the warm fuzzies when the group hangs out together, and even has a bikini party. Tobi is the outrageous loudmouth, similar to "jack", from will and grace, and steals every scene he's in. Another odd scene is when tobi is performing on stage, in a costume. Instead of concentrating on the performance, suddenly they use trick photography and special graphics effects to divide the screen like a kaleidoscope, with flashing lights and effects. That clearly the tv viewer can see, but the audience in the film cannot. Didn't really make sense. It felt like tobi's act was so weak, it needed spicing up, but rather than write a better scene, they relied on trick photograhy and special effects. Odd choice. Directed by ivesyuri garate. It's mostly good, but needed a few script changes to keep it realistic.

While I agree with the others that the film has lots of interest and interesting performances, I just can't find it in my heart to believe that Leo would go for Alex. Alex is cold and his personality is pretty wet noodle. Why would anyone fight for him. While a man doesn't have to look attractive, he should have something attractive in his personality. Cutie Leo could do better!! The deux machina ending is also a little contrived. While all of that is true, this film does bring together a group of very interesting people, all with diverse lives, and spotlights their plights. I especially enjoy Tobias who is very off the wall and fun. He shows a wide range of emotional states and plays them out in a way that most of us would like to, but probably never would. Relative to most gay films that are thrown together and often hard to watch, this is a pretty decent film and will film an hour and a half nicely!

For me, "Alex and Leo" was one of the few bright spots of this year's QFest, but even this one had its bad moments and many, many flaws. The unconvincing camera work and the poor sound quality almost ruined it for me, but then again we have to be aware that there was absolutely no budget involved.

The story: Alex (Andre Schneider) walks in on his boyfriend doing someone else and ends the relationship which makes his friends Tobi (Udo Lutz), Kerstin (Beate Kurecki) and Steffi Graf (Sasca Hai) quite happy, and the reasonable Steffi tries to comfort Alex. German porn icon Marcel Schlutt stars as Leo, who falls madly in love with Alex and leaves his bossy girlfriend for him. (Schlutt is decidedly handsome but also pretty deadpan and totally lacks the ability to act.) Alex is very reluctant at first but can't resist Leo very long. And somewhere in Berlin, love's also waiting for Tobi and Steffi.

Fine performances by Lutz, Hai, Schneider and Hans Hendrik Trost (who plays Schneider's cheating boyfriend) and a nicely penned script save this ship from drowning, the editing is good, and the music (mostly French and German songs) makes "Alex and Leo" so enjoyable that I left the theater with a big smile. Normally, I'd give "Alex and Leo" five out of ten, but compared to all the other shitty films at 2010's QFest, this was a true gem, so I added two more stars.

What a turkey. Marcel Schlutt is nice to look at but I'm more excited looking at his tumblr.

"Alex and Leo" is mediocre in almost every way. The direction is clumsy (non-existent?), most of the actors really aren't that good (especially Marcel Schlutt (another porn star who desperately tries to act), the guy who's supposed to be carrying this flick, is excessively bad! Truly, the film's most unintentional horror is Schlutt's "acting"), and the awful camera work makes the whole thing painful to watch.

Some moments sparkle though. André Schneider has written a beautiful screenplay with some pretty nice jokes and characters in it. (About his acting one has to say kindly: he's proved his dramatic abilities elsewhere; here he's basically required to look petrified and sweet.)

The movie should be called "Tobi", because it's mainly the comedic timing and genius of Udo Lutz (who's never acted before!) that makes "Alex and Leo" worth watching. He's the ultimate gay super-bitch and shines above the rest of the cast. Definitely a talent to watch! (And sexy, too!)

Otherwise: who cares about German movies anyway?