"Stenzels Bescherung" is a new German television movie and "new" in this case really means brand new because this one had its premiere less than three hours ago. It runs for 90 minutes and was written and directed by Marc-Andreas Bochert. He is probably still most known, at least internationally, for becoming an Oscar nominee almost 20 years ago now in the short film category, but since then he managed to turn into a successful and prolific filmmaker here in Germany, even if none of his works really made gigantic waves. The cast includes some actors you will recognize if you are into German films, but maybe not to a level you'd expect for a film showing during the most wanted spot (20-15 ARD, especially so briefly before Christmas) here when it comes to German television. It's alright though because I think this film is really all about Herbert Knaup and he is at the center of it all from beginning to end and I like him a lot. Ther other ones I knew were Fischer and Gastdorf and they did not impress me too much, the latter because she has not that much to work with and also admittedly her character was not written in a really great manner, whil Fischer I have never been a fan of. I don't think she is talented. Yes she is young, certainly looks younger than she is, especially with the right make-up, and her singing isn't too bad, but if it is enough to build a story around her where she gets a record contract? Debatable. The rest of the cast I am not familiar with.
I read this film was advertized as a bit of a modern Robin Hood tale and I don't know how accurate it is, but parallels are there I guess. This is a story of a man who works at a bank and when he realizes his bank is pretty much used by a bigger bank (that is about to buy it and just take all the profit from it that it can get) , he stops being cautious and economical and uses the money for good causes, such as a kindergarten who really needs it and also to support a young street musician who wants to have a career in music. Also there is stuff related to other businesses like a bakery etc. but this story line did not make an impact on me at all, so I won't really go into detail a lot there. For I think that what they did overall with the script was just not convincing enough. It is no failure by any means, but honestly I hoped this could be better. As for Fischer, it maybe subjective reasons like I wrote earlier, but also at the end how they get the money back is somewhat closely linked to her and I think it made little sense. Same for the struggles between Stenzel and his wife. I mean it was alright most of the time with how they talk about financial issues mostly, but her almost seemingly splitting up with him was ridiculous I would say. It did not feel uthentic at all she reacted like that and equally unauthentic was the ending in hich of course everything was fixed again in order to achieve the desired (but sadly really unrealistic) happy ending. I mean I am all for happy endings, but they at least have to make some sense. And I don't think this one here did really. As for Knaup, I already said I liked him quite a bit and I have seen him in a lot, so again subjective perception, but I feel that sometimes he is the anchor that keeps the entire ship from sinking. He definitely has some good moments here actings-wise and he shows that maybe he is the only one from the cast who is big screen level. One of these scenes is when he talks to his new boss and refuses to give him the password. But there's at least 5 moments/scenes more when he shines. You will recognize them when you see them. Speaking of Stenzel's boss, I am a bit undecided if I liked (to hate) him. I guess overall, he was really one of the better aspects of the film, even if he was written in an extremely stereotypical fashion. So yeah, overall I still have to give this film a thumbs-down. I really wanted to like it, but there are just too many glaring weaknesses in the script here and the consequence is that the film comes short in most departments, also emotion, which is really the most crucial department because there it all feels rushed and for the sake of it and people who like it fell for it. I must describe it this way. Thumbs-down all in all and I don't even want to imagine what the film would have looked like without Knaup in the lead. Even if you like him as much as I do, it is not a rewarding watch. See something else instead.
I read this film was advertized as a bit of a modern Robin Hood tale and I don't know how accurate it is, but parallels are there I guess. This is a story of a man who works at a bank and when he realizes his bank is pretty much used by a bigger bank (that is about to buy it and just take all the profit from it that it can get) , he stops being cautious and economical and uses the money for good causes, such as a kindergarten who really needs it and also to support a young street musician who wants to have a career in music. Also there is stuff related to other businesses like a bakery etc. but this story line did not make an impact on me at all, so I won't really go into detail a lot there. For I think that what they did overall with the script was just not convincing enough. It is no failure by any means, but honestly I hoped this could be better. As for Fischer, it maybe subjective reasons like I wrote earlier, but also at the end how they get the money back is somewhat closely linked to her and I think it made little sense. Same for the struggles between Stenzel and his wife. I mean it was alright most of the time with how they talk about financial issues mostly, but her almost seemingly splitting up with him was ridiculous I would say. It did not feel uthentic at all she reacted like that and equally unauthentic was the ending in hich of course everything was fixed again in order to achieve the desired (but sadly really unrealistic) happy ending. I mean I am all for happy endings, but they at least have to make some sense. And I don't think this one here did really. As for Knaup, I already said I liked him quite a bit and I have seen him in a lot, so again subjective perception, but I feel that sometimes he is the anchor that keeps the entire ship from sinking. He definitely has some good moments here actings-wise and he shows that maybe he is the only one from the cast who is big screen level. One of these scenes is when he talks to his new boss and refuses to give him the password. But there's at least 5 moments/scenes more when he shines. You will recognize them when you see them. Speaking of Stenzel's boss, I am a bit undecided if I liked (to hate) him. I guess overall, he was really one of the better aspects of the film, even if he was written in an extremely stereotypical fashion. So yeah, overall I still have to give this film a thumbs-down. I really wanted to like it, but there are just too many glaring weaknesses in the script here and the consequence is that the film comes short in most departments, also emotion, which is really the most crucial department because there it all feels rushed and for the sake of it and people who like it fell for it. I must describe it this way. Thumbs-down all in all and I don't even want to imagine what the film would have looked like without Knaup in the lead. Even if you like him as much as I do, it is not a rewarding watch. See something else instead.
