"Liebe nach Rezept" (or "Das verflixte 17. Jahr", both titles fairly weak and too general) is a German television film from 2007, so this one is already over a decade old, maybe even 15 years already depending on when you read this review, and it runs for 1.5 hours approximately like the vast majority of German small screen releases. The director is Jorgo Papavassiliou, who was born in Greece, but his career consists entirely of German films. The screenplay is by Rodica Döhnert. I would say that both of them have a body of work that does not include a great deal of quality, so it is surely justified to be skeptical about this film here, especially if we also see that this was produced by Degeto and their film usually suck. As for the two people in charge here, I guess the Greek's body of work is slightly worse than Döhnert's, but both are nothing to be proud of. And if you take the beginning of the film, there does not seem to be a lot of hope. The introduction is weak, the comedy approach is not convincing either. I am talking especially about the scene here at the church or so when the female protagonist says about her husband that she is not happy at all how he neglects her and also how she sometimes wishes him dead. That was really highly exaggerated and even if they are struggling with their relationship, these words are not appropriate. Or realistic. Especially because said character is one that should be seen as likable. And the comedy that follows immediately afterwards to take out come gravity out of these words, so we won't think that actually she may kill him, is just as bad. I mean the cross that falls down, which would only be a coincidence, but is supposed to imply that God heard these words and he did not approve. But luckily, things do get better the moment these magical herbs enter the picture. The result is that the female protagonist falls for the local fish vendor and not much later her husband falls for the fish vendor's wife. The scene when the female protagonist tells her daughter that she is 100% in love with the fish guy is hilarious. This is one example, one scene that applies to the headline of my review, namely that the comedy is so absurd because the film goes shamelessly over the top and does not take itself one bit seriously. Or when said female character stands at the door of the other couple and says she is ready to marry the man. Or when her husband stands at the doorstep with a big bouquet of roses and says the same basically. Or when he starts to repair something in the other woman's house. It is pretty funny and I won't deny it. I laughed quite a bit there.
This also has to do with the cast. I almost forgot how attractive Sonsee Neu is. Or at least was back then, but she also delivered nicely here in terms of her performance. She surely made it work. As for Wiesinger, I can partially say the same. He is alright, does not have the same material as his wife in this movie. Petra Kleinert I don't think is a good actress and she did not do too much for me here. Actually, her initial outrage about the whole situation and that she still goes on the date with Wiesinger's character then is the worst moment of writing from this movie perhaps. There aren't too many really poor moments. Another would be the bottle breaking perhaps. But back to Kleinert: Still she is not horrible or something. But performance-wise, maybe Ochsenknecht is the best about this film. Here, he clearly shows that he is so far more talented than his sons (who have no versatility at all honestly) and I have been skeptical about him in the past as well, but I think he did really great here to create an interesting character who is on the one hand loyal to his wife, but still attracted to Neu's character for sure. And he did so in an effortlessly chaming and comedic approach that impressed me quite a bit. However, even despite my perception there, it is pretty ridiculous he is the first one mentioned in the credits. His character is clearly not as much at the center of the film as Neu's, maybe Wiesinger's as well. But not just this lead quartet of four names you normally will not find in a small screen releases (at least not in this quantity) is doing a fine job here. The supporting players deliver as well. One example would be Golda Tencer and I wonder with her background, her body of work and where she is from, how she ended up appearing in this film as the herb lady. I also wondered how Steffi Kühnert plays such a nothing character, but I guess she was not as popular back then as she is today. If she still is. I am not sure. But she was a few years ago with "Halt auf freier Strecke" and "Das weiße Band" and "Die Frau, die sich traut". The only character/performance I did not like at all is the one played by Sybille J. Schedwill, basically the female protagonist's men-hating best friend. They always have to get in some anti-male stuff in these films I suppose and maybe you cannot even blame the actress. The character per se is despicable with how she wants the husband to bleed for what he did to her friend. Or didn't do. I mean he did not even cheat on her or anything. Luckily, even despite this character, the positive is more frequent. It was a fairly funny film at times and you can even call it a fantasy film from some perspective I suppose. Also as a Michael Bublé fan, I surely did not mind the soundtrack. And one final note about the film's final sequence: I think it was somewhat nice closure as a framework here when we hear the central couple's thoughts again, but this time there is harmony in contrast to when we hear their thoughts at the film's beginning. Just leave out the idea that the man is a sexaholic or something next time. This movie gets a thumbs-up. Really positive surprise. Go watch if you get the chance!
This also has to do with the cast. I almost forgot how attractive Sonsee Neu is. Or at least was back then, but she also delivered nicely here in terms of her performance. She surely made it work. As for Wiesinger, I can partially say the same. He is alright, does not have the same material as his wife in this movie. Petra Kleinert I don't think is a good actress and she did not do too much for me here. Actually, her initial outrage about the whole situation and that she still goes on the date with Wiesinger's character then is the worst moment of writing from this movie perhaps. There aren't too many really poor moments. Another would be the bottle breaking perhaps. But back to Kleinert: Still she is not horrible or something. But performance-wise, maybe Ochsenknecht is the best about this film. Here, he clearly shows that he is so far more talented than his sons (who have no versatility at all honestly) and I have been skeptical about him in the past as well, but I think he did really great here to create an interesting character who is on the one hand loyal to his wife, but still attracted to Neu's character for sure. And he did so in an effortlessly chaming and comedic approach that impressed me quite a bit. However, even despite my perception there, it is pretty ridiculous he is the first one mentioned in the credits. His character is clearly not as much at the center of the film as Neu's, maybe Wiesinger's as well. But not just this lead quartet of four names you normally will not find in a small screen releases (at least not in this quantity) is doing a fine job here. The supporting players deliver as well. One example would be Golda Tencer and I wonder with her background, her body of work and where she is from, how she ended up appearing in this film as the herb lady. I also wondered how Steffi Kühnert plays such a nothing character, but I guess she was not as popular back then as she is today. If she still is. I am not sure. But she was a few years ago with "Halt auf freier Strecke" and "Das weiße Band" and "Die Frau, die sich traut". The only character/performance I did not like at all is the one played by Sybille J. Schedwill, basically the female protagonist's men-hating best friend. They always have to get in some anti-male stuff in these films I suppose and maybe you cannot even blame the actress. The character per se is despicable with how she wants the husband to bleed for what he did to her friend. Or didn't do. I mean he did not even cheat on her or anything. Luckily, even despite this character, the positive is more frequent. It was a fairly funny film at times and you can even call it a fantasy film from some perspective I suppose. Also as a Michael Bublé fan, I surely did not mind the soundtrack. And one final note about the film's final sequence: I think it was somewhat nice closure as a framework here when we hear the central couple's thoughts again, but this time there is harmony in contrast to when we hear their thoughts at the film's beginning. Just leave out the idea that the man is a sexaholic or something next time. This movie gets a thumbs-up. Really positive surprise. Go watch if you get the chance!
