"Liebe verjährt nicht" is a German television movie from 2020 that had its premiere tonight in fact. It is quite surprising that there was another film with the exact same title that came out a week ago or so and that one was an Inga Lindström adaptation. Just saying this to make sure that nothing gets mixed up here. Then again, quality-wise both are probably really low at the bottom end of the scale. This one here is for sure and Inga Lindström film are almost always garbage. Okay, but now back to this one here. It runs for 1.5 hours, slightly under, and the director is Sebastian Hilger and it is quite surprising that the other day I actually watched the movie he made before this one here because I had no intention there to really see this one, probably did not even did nnot kno about it yet. Hilger is still a pretty young filmmaker and judging from what I have seen so far by him, I would say he needs to improve a bit if he wants a really long (and successful) career in the industry. Then again, his writer Wolfgang Limmer here somehow proves that it is not necessary to be too talented and you can still be in charge of films/screenplay until your 70s. A bit sad I guess that somebody so experienced comes up with something like this here that is uninspired and bland in its better moments and terrible in its weaker moments. The lead actor is the big name here: Heino Ferch. Almost everybody with a bit of an interest in film knows him here in Germany. He normally plays macho alpha male character and this film is no exception. The only difference for once is his hair. Normally he is (almost) bald in his works. Well, with the approach I just mentioned he usually delivers through recognition value mostly and also through charisma, but rarely through range or versatility, even if admittedly I have seen worse performances from him than the one he puts on diplay here. The script is definitely the bigger issue than the acting. His co-lead is played by Tanja Wedhorn and she was tolerable too without really making an impact, so pretty much the same like Ferch. Her most known series Bianca is cringeworthy schmaltz as you can see from the title already, but it can be said in her favor that she has been part of better projects too in the past. This is sadly not really one where the description fits. It is as bad as the title suggests eventually and will probably be shown on television here in Germany around noon where usually only romantic nonsense films are shown and I feel bad for everybody who really likes those even. Normally, the female character is much more likable or honorable and the male character is a bit of a crook or unstable and in the end, he realizes that the female character is the best that ever happened to them and we get the expected inevitable unrealistic happy ending. This description fits this movie here perfectly.
No let me say a few words on the story and give specific examples of why I thought this movie sucked. It already starts on a really low note that has nothing to do with reality in terms of how the unemployment agency employee has a meeting with Ferch's character. It was bad enough already overall, but when we hear that Ferch's character refused to work in a double-digit amount of jobs and the guy whose task it is to get him to work says something like if he keeps refusing, then he will get less money. Ehm, by realistic standards, he would not get any money, not one cent by then, to be honest. It clearly shows that Limmer has not been unemployed in a long time because he has no clue how the system works. Good for him, but maybe not for us and honestly looking at the quality he delivers here (or klack thereof) he deserves to be unemployed and maybe then he would see his mistakes himself and realize while movies should not be the field for him to ork in. Or at least seek retirement. He won't change his career at that age. Okay, everything that follows afterwards is tolerable. Of course, the fact how they meet there with their shared past out of nowhere is really unrealistic too and could have been handled better, but it is just about the weaker aspects from this movie, not the weakest. The dialogue writing is also pretty poor overall, This refers for example also to scenes and moments when the film takes itself far more seriously than it has any right to and with that I mean for example the quotes about arguing in a romantic relationship when they meet this Dutch(?) couple. And when we hear the latter argue too, I guess e are supposed to believe they helped them like that, but it's really cringeworthy. Admittedly not as cringeworthy when Ferch's character does his bizarre training routine out in the pouring rain and the female protagonist joins him. With some moments, I have really no clue why they did what they did. It's just a gigantic mess. But the moment when the film really hits rock-bottom is in the last 10-15 minutes, maybe a bit before that even. The two seem happy together, getting along well and completely out of nowhere they create the obligatory drama twist towards the end (that all these films have) where the male protagonist does something stupid, even criminal, and the female questions if he ever really liked her. As if this wasn't bad enough already, oh well things go south even further with the big wisdom from the guy at the casino. And from there, they still get worse when Ferch's character shows up at the auction house to confess his love with the most embarrassing music routine there, right after he came out of nowhere to make a bid for this painting. Sigh. It was impossible to take. Kinda fitting that Manuel Cortez (not credited here on imdb) was the guitar player in that scene because he is also a really bad actor. I guess we can be glad that this is his only inclusion in this movie. But yeah, the ending was truly impossible to stomach. So horrible. Until then, I actually thought I could give the film 4 stars out of 10, but the final chapter made it impossible. Taking the latter into account, it can only be called a failure. Maybe it also would have been better if they had used Kim Riedle more wisely. I think she has shown in recent years that she is not an untalented actress and was pretty much wasted here. Just one of many very bad decisions they made here. Let's hope they will not add another and one day decide to make a sequel to this movie. This first film here is definitely already one too many. Highly not recommended.
No let me say a few words on the story and give specific examples of why I thought this movie sucked. It already starts on a really low note that has nothing to do with reality in terms of how the unemployment agency employee has a meeting with Ferch's character. It was bad enough already overall, but when we hear that Ferch's character refused to work in a double-digit amount of jobs and the guy whose task it is to get him to work says something like if he keeps refusing, then he will get less money. Ehm, by realistic standards, he would not get any money, not one cent by then, to be honest. It clearly shows that Limmer has not been unemployed in a long time because he has no clue how the system works. Good for him, but maybe not for us and honestly looking at the quality he delivers here (or klack thereof) he deserves to be unemployed and maybe then he would see his mistakes himself and realize while movies should not be the field for him to ork in. Or at least seek retirement. He won't change his career at that age. Okay, everything that follows afterwards is tolerable. Of course, the fact how they meet there with their shared past out of nowhere is really unrealistic too and could have been handled better, but it is just about the weaker aspects from this movie, not the weakest. The dialogue writing is also pretty poor overall, This refers for example also to scenes and moments when the film takes itself far more seriously than it has any right to and with that I mean for example the quotes about arguing in a romantic relationship when they meet this Dutch(?) couple. And when we hear the latter argue too, I guess e are supposed to believe they helped them like that, but it's really cringeworthy. Admittedly not as cringeworthy when Ferch's character does his bizarre training routine out in the pouring rain and the female protagonist joins him. With some moments, I have really no clue why they did what they did. It's just a gigantic mess. But the moment when the film really hits rock-bottom is in the last 10-15 minutes, maybe a bit before that even. The two seem happy together, getting along well and completely out of nowhere they create the obligatory drama twist towards the end (that all these films have) where the male protagonist does something stupid, even criminal, and the female questions if he ever really liked her. As if this wasn't bad enough already, oh well things go south even further with the big wisdom from the guy at the casino. And from there, they still get worse when Ferch's character shows up at the auction house to confess his love with the most embarrassing music routine there, right after he came out of nowhere to make a bid for this painting. Sigh. It was impossible to take. Kinda fitting that Manuel Cortez (not credited here on imdb) was the guitar player in that scene because he is also a really bad actor. I guess we can be glad that this is his only inclusion in this movie. But yeah, the ending was truly impossible to stomach. So horrible. Until then, I actually thought I could give the film 4 stars out of 10, but the final chapter made it impossible. Taking the latter into account, it can only be called a failure. Maybe it also would have been better if they had used Kim Riedle more wisely. I think she has shown in recent years that she is not an untalented actress and was pretty much wasted here. Just one of many very bad decisions they made here. Let's hope they will not add another and one day decide to make a sequel to this movie. This first film here is definitely already one too many. Highly not recommended.
