"Meine Mutter, meine Männer" is a German television film that premiered back in 2014, so these 1.5 hours are already over five years old. The director is Karola Hattop. She is over 70 now and apparently retired, has only worked on two television episode apparently since 2014, so it's safe to say so. And as this one here is from 2014, this is also one of her final career efforts. If you take a look at everything else she did, including Lily Schönauer adaptations, Inga Lindström adaptations and stuff like "Die Stein" und "Die Kommisarin, it becomes clear very quickly that you cannot expect quality from projects for which she is credited as director. I mean the fairytale movies were kinda alright, but that is it. Also you can see from her body of work that she is a filmmaker that rarely writes own screenplays. I don't mind it. I don't think a director is per definition better if they do the writing themselves. Anna Morgenrot took care of that here. As nice as the name may sound, there is no quality to her body of work either. Very small body of work. This is just one of two films she is credited with according to imdb. And other than that, SOKO and Lilly Schönauer define her career. By the way, the adaptation she wrote for the latter was also a collaboration with Hattop. And that one would be from 2013, so yeah Morgenrot's body of work is fairly self-explanatory too in a negative sense. As for the cast, we got no big names this time really, but some familiar names and faces. Marie Zielcke most German film buffs have probably come across already. Roman Knizka I have seen on other projects too. Marlene Morreis i am not entirely sure about, but Jürgen Heinrich is one that is always easy to identify, especially for somebody like me who enjoyed Wolffs Revier back in the day. He has had such a long career and I am always kinda glad I see him in something. Unless he is completely wasted like it is the case here. But then again, nobody forced him to play the role in this film. So he deserves some blame too. The photo here on imdb is one from the very end of the movie by the way and you see basically each and every single major caast member in here. The leads as well as the supporting players. The only two leads are probably Zielcke and Stieblich and I felt that the longer the film went, the more Stieblich moved into the lead and it could very well be that she has more screen time eventually than Zielcke, although the latter is the one whose character really connects everybody in this film. As for Stieblich, I cannot say too much about her body of work, but I see that she played a relevant character in the terrible overrated "Türkisch für Anfänger". Fits right in with the impression I got from her in this film and I will in the second paragraph where I focus on the film itself and the characters. Just one example now already: Of course she is so hip that she is smoking pot and also offers it to her daughter. Honestly, the daughter should have thrown her out on so many occasions. This is just one of them.
Stieblich was absolutely unwatchable. Completely ham. Completely over the top and her character was the definition of cringeworthy, not just in terms of the full story, but also during these smaller moments. Just take the beginning when she takes the train, but has no ticket. Or later on when she bullies the man who is about to become a dad and he just wants to watch football in peace. Or another small moment, namely when she wakes up outside in the nature and tries to kiss Heinrich's character with the weirdest noise. By the way, no you don't get shot in America if you don't have a train ticket. Man she was so unwatchable. I mean the character was already written in a pretty poor manner, but I think the biggest responsibility lies with the actress in terms of how cringeworthy Jutta became. One poorly-written moment would be of course when she randomly runs into her daughter in a big city because she loses her scarf or something and the daughter picks it up and sees "oh, it's you mom". I don't even. Ths scene by the way followed right after a job interview the elderly woman had. How did she get it? She called there and said that she will just come by and they can still decline her application if they want to. Yeah, that''s how it works. It would have been amazing if they simply had not let her into the building, but the most pathetic thing about that character is really that we are supposed to see her as likable and self-confident and caring. The opposite felt true to me. I mean I myself do not have the most amazing relationship with my mother, but I'd pick her about the woman in this movie anytime. Felt fairly sorry for Zielcke's character here honestly looking at her mother's constant shenanigans. On one occasion the daughter said something like the mother was never really there when she needed her, but now she is there when she does not need her. Okay, really likable mother indeed. But probably it is just words anyway because at some point the daughter starts to cry and mother is there to catch her and lift her up. The bad guys in this film are as usual the men. I mean this is Bavaria Fiction and ARD Degeto, so what did you expect? The title already gives away perfectly the quality you can expect here. Just take Jürgen Heinrich's character. he has literally no purpose in this film that to express romantic interest in the beloved female character I just talked about for quite a bit. Shameful stuff really. Many cringeworthy moments there too, like then the woman tells him about the pregnancy of his son and she did not know that he did not know about it yet. Of course, pretty fitting also that she starts something with the father of her daughter's man. Yes, it can be that easy. At least in ARD movies. Finally, Stieblich showed us all also in that parachute scene what an amazingly desirable woman she is and how men really have to go all in for her attention if they want to be with a goddess like that. Let me move on to the core plot, i.e. the pregnancy idea. Zielcke is really attractive, no denying, but this does not solve her story either. Like how she ends up briefly with a friend's baby (that friend was maybe the only character here written even more poorly than Heinrich, like nothing to work with, absoutely nothing), In general, I thought it was a good and kinda courageous idea that they took the route that the father-to-be is not yet ready for such a role and eventually this is why they broke up because she wanted to have the baby. However, all that they turned this into makes one think that the premise was alright, but the execution was an utter travesty, not only because of the father-to-be's father ending up with her mother, but mostly really because the female protagonist despite being oh so heartbroken was instantly ready to date another guy, an old love she randomly runs into through her work. Of course, another great coincidence there. Let's also ignore for a second that our likable protagonist (Zielcke's character) at that point when she was still together wth the father of her unborn child she cheated on him ruthlessly with the other guy. But hey, it is true love there, true romance, so it is alright. It is only despicable if a man does it in such a movie. Man, these Degeto films are so anti-male it isn't even funny anymore. Speaking of "funny", this is a comedy apparently, but the only reason to laugh here is really laughing at how bad it all is. Like also the scene when we see how differently the two men react at small children, so we understand who is the right one for her. I mean what can you say. One guy is a pretty much an ungrateful pig because he does not want to be a full-time dad (how grateful he can be, the pregnant woman is so tolerant to even allow him to stay in her life) and the other man can play a full-time dad now for a baby that isn't his and he has to if he wants to be with Zielcke's character who is also very desirable, even if probably not as desirable as her mother. By the way, the entire opera plot or so, the department where the younger female main character was working, was also a complete joke. I mean we see scenes from that and we are supposed that this is something that thousands of people want to see? Something that people who worked at the Scala in Italy want to be a part of? I don't know what to say here. The art of make-believe and the sad thing is that people are actually falling for it. Is there anything positive to say about this movie? Oh yes, the ending. All happy, all solved of course in a scenario that would offer a gigantic deal of drama and conflicts. And why is it positive? Because a lot hints at a sequel, but it has not happened in over six years and probably never will. Great news. This one film is one too many already without a doubt. Highly not recommended, even if the song "From the Heart" near the end is alright, but that was just a choice anyway, nothing creative from the cast or filmmakers here either.
Stieblich was absolutely unwatchable. Completely ham. Completely over the top and her character was the definition of cringeworthy, not just in terms of the full story, but also during these smaller moments. Just take the beginning when she takes the train, but has no ticket. Or later on when she bullies the man who is about to become a dad and he just wants to watch football in peace. Or another small moment, namely when she wakes up outside in the nature and tries to kiss Heinrich's character with the weirdest noise. By the way, no you don't get shot in America if you don't have a train ticket. Man she was so unwatchable. I mean the character was already written in a pretty poor manner, but I think the biggest responsibility lies with the actress in terms of how cringeworthy Jutta became. One poorly-written moment would be of course when she randomly runs into her daughter in a big city because she loses her scarf or something and the daughter picks it up and sees "oh, it's you mom". I don't even. Ths scene by the way followed right after a job interview the elderly woman had. How did she get it? She called there and said that she will just come by and they can still decline her application if they want to. Yeah, that''s how it works. It would have been amazing if they simply had not let her into the building, but the most pathetic thing about that character is really that we are supposed to see her as likable and self-confident and caring. The opposite felt true to me. I mean I myself do not have the most amazing relationship with my mother, but I'd pick her about the woman in this movie anytime. Felt fairly sorry for Zielcke's character here honestly looking at her mother's constant shenanigans. On one occasion the daughter said something like the mother was never really there when she needed her, but now she is there when she does not need her. Okay, really likable mother indeed. But probably it is just words anyway because at some point the daughter starts to cry and mother is there to catch her and lift her up. The bad guys in this film are as usual the men. I mean this is Bavaria Fiction and ARD Degeto, so what did you expect? The title already gives away perfectly the quality you can expect here. Just take Jürgen Heinrich's character. he has literally no purpose in this film that to express romantic interest in the beloved female character I just talked about for quite a bit. Shameful stuff really. Many cringeworthy moments there too, like then the woman tells him about the pregnancy of his son and she did not know that he did not know about it yet. Of course, pretty fitting also that she starts something with the father of her daughter's man. Yes, it can be that easy. At least in ARD movies. Finally, Stieblich showed us all also in that parachute scene what an amazingly desirable woman she is and how men really have to go all in for her attention if they want to be with a goddess like that. Let me move on to the core plot, i.e. the pregnancy idea. Zielcke is really attractive, no denying, but this does not solve her story either. Like how she ends up briefly with a friend's baby (that friend was maybe the only character here written even more poorly than Heinrich, like nothing to work with, absoutely nothing), In general, I thought it was a good and kinda courageous idea that they took the route that the father-to-be is not yet ready for such a role and eventually this is why they broke up because she wanted to have the baby. However, all that they turned this into makes one think that the premise was alright, but the execution was an utter travesty, not only because of the father-to-be's father ending up with her mother, but mostly really because the female protagonist despite being oh so heartbroken was instantly ready to date another guy, an old love she randomly runs into through her work. Of course, another great coincidence there. Let's also ignore for a second that our likable protagonist (Zielcke's character) at that point when she was still together wth the father of her unborn child she cheated on him ruthlessly with the other guy. But hey, it is true love there, true romance, so it is alright. It is only despicable if a man does it in such a movie. Man, these Degeto films are so anti-male it isn't even funny anymore. Speaking of "funny", this is a comedy apparently, but the only reason to laugh here is really laughing at how bad it all is. Like also the scene when we see how differently the two men react at small children, so we understand who is the right one for her. I mean what can you say. One guy is a pretty much an ungrateful pig because he does not want to be a full-time dad (how grateful he can be, the pregnant woman is so tolerant to even allow him to stay in her life) and the other man can play a full-time dad now for a baby that isn't his and he has to if he wants to be with Zielcke's character who is also very desirable, even if probably not as desirable as her mother. By the way, the entire opera plot or so, the department where the younger female main character was working, was also a complete joke. I mean we see scenes from that and we are supposed that this is something that thousands of people want to see? Something that people who worked at the Scala in Italy want to be a part of? I don't know what to say here. The art of make-believe and the sad thing is that people are actually falling for it. Is there anything positive to say about this movie? Oh yes, the ending. All happy, all solved of course in a scenario that would offer a gigantic deal of drama and conflicts. And why is it positive? Because a lot hints at a sequel, but it has not happened in over six years and probably never will. Great news. This one film is one too many already without a doubt. Highly not recommended, even if the song "From the Heart" near the end is alright, but that was just a choice anyway, nothing creative from the cast or filmmakers here either.