"Drei teuflisch starke Frauen", which means "Three diabolically strong women", is a German television film from 2005, so this one is already 15 years old by now and it is not an anniversary to be proud of, especially if we take a look at the fact that this mess is still shown on national television nowadays. And what is as much of a travesty is that they made not only one, but two sequels here. I watched the second film about a month ago I think and that one was completely awful too. Admittedly, this one here was not as bad honestly, but still really, really, really bad, just not really, really, really, really, really bad. I wonder if they managed another step down in quality with the third film. I am yet to see that one and I probably will at some point. Anyway, if you take a look at the production company here, you will see the name Degeto and that is an absolutely safe indicator that it is highly unlikely you will find any quality whatsoever in this movie. A look at the body of work by director Zeller, who returned for both sequels - no shame this woman has apparently, and the body of work by writer Mónica Simon (Pilcher adaptations, Sturm der Liebe, Sägebrecht movies) will make very clear that these under 1.5 hours here are not just bad. They are an abomination indeed. As for Simon, she ditched her pretentious ´ later on it seems and when she wrote the screenplay for this film, she was still relatively new to filmmaking and still she has not written new screenplays now in almost 10 years. Good thing. The director is still very active sadly though. Alright, as for the cast, you see the three "angels" on the photo here on imdb. In terms of how bad their performances were, I think Dohm was the worst, then von Weitershausen and finally Kubitschek, but she was already in her mid70s here, so she also has the least screen time, which may explain why she is not as horrible as the other two. Still, even with a lot more screen time, I feel she never could have been as bad as Dohm. The latter does not get one single scene right, always goes over the top, especially in everything related to sex or when she wants her younger sister to say the German derogatory term for a prostitute. Or just a woman who has sex with many men. And when von Weitershausen's character screams out said word, the film could not be any more cringe honestly. You will get goosebumps by how bad it all is.
The other aspects in terms of quality, by the way, or lack thereof, are the same as in the second movie. But not even Dohm is as despicable as the writing here. This film is as sexist and anti-male as it gets. Hed it been the other way around (and had anybody actually seen this movie), they never would have gotten away with it. The guy who gets away the least harmful is the one who is crushing on Dohm's character. He is just needy and weak, just like they should be in order to let the women be in control. He will wait for her. Then there is the oldest sister's son, who is in massive financial trouble and in danger of losing his mother her home because of that. Let's not talk about juristic foundations here too much, even if I am pretty sure that from this perspective it also would have been nonsense. Anyway, this son needs the help of the three women wo get him out of this misery and make sure he will never be bullied by the bad guy again and of course our three powerful sisters with their confidence make it work in the end. Like seriously? In real life, the antagonist just would have sued the living hell out of all of them and rightfully so because that way probably we never would have gotten a second or third movie. And then, there is the youngest sister's husband and he is one who has an affair with a considerably younger woman (boo! you scum! it's only okay if Senta Berger does it because then it is real love), but of course he realizes how amazing Gila von Weitershausen's character is in contrast to the affair and he wants her back 100%. The affair is played by Claudelle Deckert by the way. I saw her on "Unter Uns" like 20 years ago or so I think and good God is she bad. She only really has one scene, but that phone conversation in bed is a perfect example to show to every aspiring actress and writer how not to do such a scene. This was maybe the worst moment of the entire film. What she said and how she said it, so congrats on finding an actress who is even less talented than the three protagonists. As for the three men I just mentioned, they are played by Günther Maria Halmer, Ralf Bauer and Rüdiger Vogler. I mean with Bauer I am not surprised, he was never a good actor, but looking at the stuff Halmer and Vogler did in their careers, it is so sad that they now (or even 15 years ago) have/had to act in trashy films like this. And the worst is that they have been in many other fiilms too with an equally horrible quality. Of course, the film also goes completely over the top with the soundtrack and thinks it has a right to take itself really seriously as if it was a deep character study. Okay, I shall leave it at that. You get the message. Just one thing finally about Dohm's character. Her relationship with the guy she mentored in her profession was as cringeworthy as how she is discriminated against by her old boss because of her age, but then he wants her back because of how awesome she is, but she, so full of herself, refuses the offer. And the new boss also wasn't too nice to her early on, but eventually is also wowed by her and that amazing writing talent she apparently has. So yeah, stupid unrealistic endings with zero authenticity in every singe subplot. This is a film you want to skip at any cost. Plain horrible. Highly not recommended.
The other aspects in terms of quality, by the way, or lack thereof, are the same as in the second movie. But not even Dohm is as despicable as the writing here. This film is as sexist and anti-male as it gets. Hed it been the other way around (and had anybody actually seen this movie), they never would have gotten away with it. The guy who gets away the least harmful is the one who is crushing on Dohm's character. He is just needy and weak, just like they should be in order to let the women be in control. He will wait for her. Then there is the oldest sister's son, who is in massive financial trouble and in danger of losing his mother her home because of that. Let's not talk about juristic foundations here too much, even if I am pretty sure that from this perspective it also would have been nonsense. Anyway, this son needs the help of the three women wo get him out of this misery and make sure he will never be bullied by the bad guy again and of course our three powerful sisters with their confidence make it work in the end. Like seriously? In real life, the antagonist just would have sued the living hell out of all of them and rightfully so because that way probably we never would have gotten a second or third movie. And then, there is the youngest sister's husband and he is one who has an affair with a considerably younger woman (boo! you scum! it's only okay if Senta Berger does it because then it is real love), but of course he realizes how amazing Gila von Weitershausen's character is in contrast to the affair and he wants her back 100%. The affair is played by Claudelle Deckert by the way. I saw her on "Unter Uns" like 20 years ago or so I think and good God is she bad. She only really has one scene, but that phone conversation in bed is a perfect example to show to every aspiring actress and writer how not to do such a scene. This was maybe the worst moment of the entire film. What she said and how she said it, so congrats on finding an actress who is even less talented than the three protagonists. As for the three men I just mentioned, they are played by Günther Maria Halmer, Ralf Bauer and Rüdiger Vogler. I mean with Bauer I am not surprised, he was never a good actor, but looking at the stuff Halmer and Vogler did in their careers, it is so sad that they now (or even 15 years ago) have/had to act in trashy films like this. And the worst is that they have been in many other fiilms too with an equally horrible quality. Of course, the film also goes completely over the top with the soundtrack and thinks it has a right to take itself really seriously as if it was a deep character study. Okay, I shall leave it at that. You get the message. Just one thing finally about Dohm's character. Her relationship with the guy she mentored in her profession was as cringeworthy as how she is discriminated against by her old boss because of her age, but then he wants her back because of how awesome she is, but she, so full of herself, refuses the offer. And the new boss also wasn't too nice to her early on, but eventually is also wowed by her and that amazing writing talent she apparently has. So yeah, stupid unrealistic endings with zero authenticity in every singe subplot. This is a film you want to skip at any cost. Plain horrible. Highly not recommended.