"Die Zeit mit Euch", which means something like "The time (spent) with you", is a German television film from 2014, so this one is over five years old already now and like the vastg majority of German small screen releases, it runs for (slightly under) 1.5 hours. The director is Stefan Krohmer and I kinda like his body of work. Prolific, but not too much garbage included there. He is certainly more experienced than his writer here. Gabriele Kreis has basically 50% stupid romance movies in her body of work and the other 50% are fairytale adaptations, so this movie here is sort of the exception. There are six characters at the center of it all. The bunch meets early on to have dinner together as they are all friends, but this evening goes kinda wrong, so this is also the last time that you see them all together. What happens exactly is thatg one character confesses to his wife (and everybody else) that he has an affair, actually for several years already. The outcome is that we find out a lot about other affairs these folks have. He is by far not the only one. His wife did not have one it seems, but the other two women did. These may not (yet) have resulted in the relationships ending, but all 3 couples are at a point where it is definitely an option that they are single again soon. Still, back to this revelation, I must say the moment how it came out was not too good and the entire confession there felt a bit fake how it happened. I mean the other woman he had was pregnant, so it had to come out eventually, but this was maybe not the right time and place. Or at least not the way it was depicted there. One thing I liked though is that the film did not take the generic route of how it all won't ork out with the other woman, who is much younger, and that he eventually wants to return to his wife. That marriage is pretty much over, also would have been without the other woman. But maybe she was the reason that it actually ended and it isn't even a bad thing. One of the other women even says something that the guy will not stay happy in the long term with his new girlfriend, maybe only to comfort the one who had been cheated on. Reality turns out different. I also felt it was realistic that the guy who cheated on the woman sort of became an outsider in the group especially with the females, but also how one of them wonders about his motives and is also not scared to admit and she also realizes that the marriage was pretty much over.
Now in the second half, especially the final thirty minutes, there is another major plot twist. One character is diagnosed with a malicious brain tumor, so it is sort of about saying farewell and sticking together despite what happened in the past. I am not sure how much I liked this story here. I think the actor played the part well and it also was not written extremely poorly, but how they brought in the doctor (the man who cheated on his wife) to be in charge of the diagnosis and everything felt as unrealistic as how his new lover is his assistant in this scenario. You could at least explain this with personal involvement that he wants his friend, but what I liked even less as that this diagnosis also results in a revelation that the dying had an affair with his friend's partner and they still may have feelings for each other. The woman's collapse was still realistic, but the kiss on the bench was probably too much. So a lot of relationship hullabaloo here, maybe too much I'd say all in all. And a lot of it also not particularly realistic. Just take for example how the woman we find out early was cheated on suddenly ends up with a regular (the most regular probably) client from her friend's store. But they still met as a coincidence and not in the store or so, which could have made it (more) realistic at least. A lot here feels for the sake of it and just too much of a coincidence and this is one main reason for my rather low rating. The cast is certainly above-average here. Hübchen and Knaup are actors everybody will recognize. The third male at the center of the story as well as the three females are not extremely fammous, but also very experienced (no surprise given their ages) and prolific. You could see they can act and their weaker moments were an exception. But it also shows that the script wwas sometimes so weak that not even particularly talented actors can make it work. It is kinda ironic that Hübchen of all people is maybe the one who has the least to work with. If it wasn't for his tears towards the end, then he would have been completely forgettable. The story about how he was a television reporter once, but lost all his ambition and spends his day in front of the TV now (at the other side if you want to say so) adds very little. Early on, Knaup's character also felt as if he was more of spectator, but that changes also the longert the film goes with what happens to his character and I would say that all in all he gives the best performance from the bunch eventually. This film is not a failure and there are many many way worse films made for and shown on German television these days, especially if we look at films shown in the afternoon (just like this one was today). However, it is also not good enough for a positive recommendation. Skip it, even if you like some of the actors.
Now in the second half, especially the final thirty minutes, there is another major plot twist. One character is diagnosed with a malicious brain tumor, so it is sort of about saying farewell and sticking together despite what happened in the past. I am not sure how much I liked this story here. I think the actor played the part well and it also was not written extremely poorly, but how they brought in the doctor (the man who cheated on his wife) to be in charge of the diagnosis and everything felt as unrealistic as how his new lover is his assistant in this scenario. You could at least explain this with personal involvement that he wants his friend, but what I liked even less as that this diagnosis also results in a revelation that the dying had an affair with his friend's partner and they still may have feelings for each other. The woman's collapse was still realistic, but the kiss on the bench was probably too much. So a lot of relationship hullabaloo here, maybe too much I'd say all in all. And a lot of it also not particularly realistic. Just take for example how the woman we find out early was cheated on suddenly ends up with a regular (the most regular probably) client from her friend's store. But they still met as a coincidence and not in the store or so, which could have made it (more) realistic at least. A lot here feels for the sake of it and just too much of a coincidence and this is one main reason for my rather low rating. The cast is certainly above-average here. Hübchen and Knaup are actors everybody will recognize. The third male at the center of the story as well as the three females are not extremely fammous, but also very experienced (no surprise given their ages) and prolific. You could see they can act and their weaker moments were an exception. But it also shows that the script wwas sometimes so weak that not even particularly talented actors can make it work. It is kinda ironic that Hübchen of all people is maybe the one who has the least to work with. If it wasn't for his tears towards the end, then he would have been completely forgettable. The story about how he was a television reporter once, but lost all his ambition and spends his day in front of the TV now (at the other side if you want to say so) adds very little. Early on, Knaup's character also felt as if he was more of spectator, but that changes also the longert the film goes with what happens to his character and I would say that all in all he gives the best performance from the bunch eventually. This film is not a failure and there are many many way worse films made for and shown on German television these days, especially if we look at films shown in the afternoon (just like this one was today). However, it is also not good enough for a positive recommendation. Skip it, even if you like some of the actors.
