"Das Glück am Horizont" is a German television film from 2008, so this one is already over a decade old. The title literally translated means "Happiness on the horizon", which sounds definitely nicer than the German title because of the alliteration, but let me assure you the German title (even with the plane reference) is as embarrassing as it gets and same is true for the working title "Schwingen des Glücks". Yep they were definitely very motivated to get in the aviation component. The director here is Bettina Woernle and she is truly experienced, even was back then. The fact that she is still working now in her early 70s makes clear that she probably loves her profession, which is pretty cool, but honestly after so much experience I am bit shocked to see her being a part of garbage projects like this. I mean this was doomed from the start really. However, the one who is certainly more to blame than Woernle is Bavarian (although she sounds Dutch) writer Nicole Houwer. She was not a rookie back then, but also not extremely experienced and honestly looking at the outcome here I cannot deny I find it really appropriate to see she has not written another script since then (according to imdb). There are many other writers who don't get the chance, but there is no way they are less talented than Houwer. Still it must be said that the cast as not doing her any favors either. With that, I am mostly talking about lead actress Katharina Schubert. She is basically a twin of (the younger) Veronica Ferres and also of Rosalie Thomass, who is now even much younger than Schubert was when she appeared in this movie. All three have almost no range at all, but recognition value because of their voluptuous figure (not fat though) and blond hair. This is why they get cast. Even for lead roles, which is pretty sad. Their versatility is certainly not the reason because if it barely existent and that is already an exaggeration. Back to Schubert specifically: I see her most known career performance so far was the television show "Die Camper" and even if it is a bit trash television too, I don't want to be too negative about it because I kinda liked it back then. However, the fact that I have no clue which character she played there says it all about her talent. It wasn't even one of the key characters. I initially thought it was the neighbor's girlfriend/wife, but no, it was a smaller character.
Anyway, back to this one here: Schubert's male co-lead is Götz Schubert. They are not related which would make things a bit weird given their romance story. As for Götz, he is not as bad as Katharina, but that clearly does not mean anything and certainly not that he gave a good performance. What makes me a bit sad here is to see Heinrich Schafmeister part of this project. I kinda like him. He should have skipped instead of playing a nothing character in a garbage movie. The presentation scene was especially embarrassing. Margit Sartorius was stunning at least, but she has virtually no impact on the story either. At least we would have had a beautiful lead if she had been at the center of the story. The older audiences (and I am sure there were many) get Hagen and Fitz from their age groups, two really established actors, who, however, also have some pretty bad movies in their bodies of work, but probably not too many that are as bad as these almost 1.5 hours here. And finally the child actress is played by Carla Reffo. Actually her insult early on and her typing into this messenger towards the end were kinda funny and better than 99% of the rest of the movie. Again that doesn't mean a lot. Still a bit of a pity she has never acted in a film before or after this one here. A really messed-up filmography if this is your only entry. Now I don#t want to mention all reasons and scenes and sequences because of which this film sucked a lot, but I will give you a few. The meeting at the parking lot was already a good indicator which direction we are heading here quality-wise, like when the two are getting too close to each other and it's awkward and uncomfortable. Then of course the guy is the business owner's son, great coincidence. Not much later we get his comment about her buttocks referenceing the meeting at the parking lot again as if this was something anybody would wannt to remember. Then there is of course the key story with the two messenging each other and not knowing who they are talking to. Or at least she doesn't until the end. Don't get me started on the pizza reference when he realizes it. But back to this general idea. They met in the gigantic internet and at the same time they keep meeting in real life. Don't give me this fate nonsense please. It's an insult to everybody watching this movie with an IQ over 80. And all this what I just mentioned (except the revelation) is only the first 15 minutes. Which means that you get the same amount of stupidity right afterwards for another 75 minutes. Enough said. It is not getting any better there. The horseback and airplane scenes are not entertaining at all either. The mother's disapproval of the relationship towards the end was included for the sake of it and to make things even worse, all of a sudden, she was getting along well with the female protagonist immediately afterwards again as if nothing happened. The idea of how she finds out who she is texting with and how this creates a big conflict at the end was also pretty embarrassing and had little to do with reality. Oh yeah, they are not getting their happy end now are they? How sad. Of course they are. Okay I guess this would be all. I don't give rating below 2 out of 10, but if I did, then this movie would be a definite contender. Honestly, exxept the two mildly funny moments involving the child actress, there is nothing of value at all in this movie. It's an abomination and perfect evidence why K. Schubert should not only play lead characters, but actually should not even be allowed in front of a film camera ever again. Her line delivery was abysmal on every account. Also the way how she overcomes her fear of flying towards the end is a true insult to everybody who actually suffers from having one or several phobias. So this is not just a movie that lacks creativity from every perspective, it is also downright offensive. What a mess. Maybe the worst film I have seen all year. And I have seen a lot.
Anyway, back to this one here: Schubert's male co-lead is Götz Schubert. They are not related which would make things a bit weird given their romance story. As for Götz, he is not as bad as Katharina, but that clearly does not mean anything and certainly not that he gave a good performance. What makes me a bit sad here is to see Heinrich Schafmeister part of this project. I kinda like him. He should have skipped instead of playing a nothing character in a garbage movie. The presentation scene was especially embarrassing. Margit Sartorius was stunning at least, but she has virtually no impact on the story either. At least we would have had a beautiful lead if she had been at the center of the story. The older audiences (and I am sure there were many) get Hagen and Fitz from their age groups, two really established actors, who, however, also have some pretty bad movies in their bodies of work, but probably not too many that are as bad as these almost 1.5 hours here. And finally the child actress is played by Carla Reffo. Actually her insult early on and her typing into this messenger towards the end were kinda funny and better than 99% of the rest of the movie. Again that doesn't mean a lot. Still a bit of a pity she has never acted in a film before or after this one here. A really messed-up filmography if this is your only entry. Now I don#t want to mention all reasons and scenes and sequences because of which this film sucked a lot, but I will give you a few. The meeting at the parking lot was already a good indicator which direction we are heading here quality-wise, like when the two are getting too close to each other and it's awkward and uncomfortable. Then of course the guy is the business owner's son, great coincidence. Not much later we get his comment about her buttocks referenceing the meeting at the parking lot again as if this was something anybody would wannt to remember. Then there is of course the key story with the two messenging each other and not knowing who they are talking to. Or at least she doesn't until the end. Don't get me started on the pizza reference when he realizes it. But back to this general idea. They met in the gigantic internet and at the same time they keep meeting in real life. Don't give me this fate nonsense please. It's an insult to everybody watching this movie with an IQ over 80. And all this what I just mentioned (except the revelation) is only the first 15 minutes. Which means that you get the same amount of stupidity right afterwards for another 75 minutes. Enough said. It is not getting any better there. The horseback and airplane scenes are not entertaining at all either. The mother's disapproval of the relationship towards the end was included for the sake of it and to make things even worse, all of a sudden, she was getting along well with the female protagonist immediately afterwards again as if nothing happened. The idea of how she finds out who she is texting with and how this creates a big conflict at the end was also pretty embarrassing and had little to do with reality. Oh yeah, they are not getting their happy end now are they? How sad. Of course they are. Okay I guess this would be all. I don't give rating below 2 out of 10, but if I did, then this movie would be a definite contender. Honestly, exxept the two mildly funny moments involving the child actress, there is nothing of value at all in this movie. It's an abomination and perfect evidence why K. Schubert should not only play lead characters, but actually should not even be allowed in front of a film camera ever again. Her line delivery was abysmal on every account. Also the way how she overcomes her fear of flying towards the end is a true insult to everybody who actually suffers from having one or several phobias. So this is not just a movie that lacks creativity from every perspective, it is also downright offensive. What a mess. Maybe the worst film I have seen all year. And I have seen a lot.
