"Mann tut was Mann kann" is a German 2012 film directed by André Rothemund. Let me start by saying that whoever came up with this horrible play on words, should never work in the movie industry again. I have seen some of the director's work and have to say he is great in making films with strong female central characters (Academy Award nominee "Sophie Scholl"), but a comedy centering about a male, played by Wotan Wilke Möhring, is certainly not his area of expertise. What is especially unsatisfying is that Gerat's character is written horribly and the same goes for pretty much all other female characters (all very attractive, but little beyond the surface). Very disappointing, especially looking at Rothemund's convincing approach to female characters in the past. They say that too many cooks spoil the broth and this may apply here as the film was written by no less than five people, including the movie's director.
On a side-note, this movie could also have been called "Männerherzen", but anyway... There are a couple scenes that just did not work for me. One would be why would a woman admit to her parents that she is into girls and will leave for a long time to travel abroad? Well, why not, but the real question is why would she do so at the table in the presence of an almost-complete stranger? Then the whole sex-with-other-guy-to-force-true-love-to-marry-her plot was just stupid and unrealistic. If she really loved him, she would never have done that. It's not even absurd in a comedic way, just completely random and stupid. And finally, the whole way the indecent offer that Gerat's character makes him. I am not sure if it was just badly written or badly acted, but I guess a mix of both. Very cringeworthy scene.
The cast includes some of Germany's most famous actors: Möhring, Korittke (for the funny parts), Liefers and Yildim. About Liefers (similar character again to what he always plays), I thought initially, he would be an antagonist to Möhring's character, but things turned out he is a friend. I found him very unlikeable though and the main character was not exactly a favorite of mine either. The music included in the movie was okay though.
All in all, I do not recommend this movie. I hoped maybe the ending could save it, but the wedding crashers part was as chaotically unsatisfying as the rest of the film. There are many many better German (comedy) films out there and I really wonder why they even came up with a sequel (came out this year) if the first was already a miss for most of its over 100 minutes.
On a side-note, this movie could also have been called "Männerherzen", but anyway... There are a couple scenes that just did not work for me. One would be why would a woman admit to her parents that she is into girls and will leave for a long time to travel abroad? Well, why not, but the real question is why would she do so at the table in the presence of an almost-complete stranger? Then the whole sex-with-other-guy-to-force-true-love-to-marry-her plot was just stupid and unrealistic. If she really loved him, she would never have done that. It's not even absurd in a comedic way, just completely random and stupid. And finally, the whole way the indecent offer that Gerat's character makes him. I am not sure if it was just badly written or badly acted, but I guess a mix of both. Very cringeworthy scene.
The cast includes some of Germany's most famous actors: Möhring, Korittke (for the funny parts), Liefers and Yildim. About Liefers (similar character again to what he always plays), I thought initially, he would be an antagonist to Möhring's character, but things turned out he is a friend. I found him very unlikeable though and the main character was not exactly a favorite of mine either. The music included in the movie was okay though.
All in all, I do not recommend this movie. I hoped maybe the ending could save it, but the wedding crashers part was as chaotically unsatisfying as the rest of the film. There are many many better German (comedy) films out there and I really wonder why they even came up with a sequel (came out this year) if the first was already a miss for most of its over 100 minutes.