"Ehepause" or "Keine Ehe ohne Pause" is a German television film from 2016. Yesterday when it was on television, they picked the latter title, but the former is also not uncommon apparently. Anyway, they almost mean the same, namely "Marriage break" or "No marriage without a break". Like the big majority of small screen releases from my country, this runs for 1.5 hours, minimally under in fact like they also almost always do. The central character here is male, even if you could argue for his wife being at the center too, but even if they are both leads, the poster here on imdb is a bit misleading (no pun intended) because the one on the left is certainly much more at the center of it all. But first things first: The director is Patrick Winczewski and he will have his 60th birthday one month from now, which most likely means already that it happened already unless you read my review really within a few days after posting. The writer is Thomas Kirdorf and he is even older, slightly over five years. The difference between their bodies of work is that the director mostly worked on series while Kirdorf worked on many, many other movies like this one here. That is the only difference though. They have a lot in common. Not only are they from the same generation, but this also makes the quite experienced and of course they already were very experienced back in 2016. So this film will have its fifth anniversary next year. But what I actually wanted to say is that Winczewski's as well as Kirdorf's filmography is sadly nothing to be proud of at all. Many many weak (and that is already gently-speaking) projects included there and it is pretty sad when such experienced filmmakers have achieved nothing of true quality in careers that spanned over several decades. Alright. I cannot say anything positive about the cast here either. Heino Ferch is of course the lead actor and he is the epitome of recognition value without much range here in Germany when it comes to male actors. I have to include the "much" here because admittedly he is nowhere near as bad as his female counterpart Inka Friedrich. I have no idea why she is still getting cast. She has one, maybe two, face expression(s) throughout the entire film and she has many scenes in fact. Utter absence of talent, range and versatility. This bad Ferch is not luckily, but he defines himself more through masculinity than through anything else positive about his craft either. Very disappointing. There are familiar faces like Kelling, Altaras and Lodyga in the supporting cast, but none of them stand out at all. Luckily, only one of them makes the already bad screenplay even worse and that is Altaras as always. Have seen her in quite a few films and she is always bad too, always goes over the top with her performance and clearly knows nothing about subtlety, let alone about being quietly convincing. Then again, her character is also really poorly written, but that is no excuse for her. On the contrary, it probably took a special absence of talent to make said character even worse when she begins rambling about life wisdoms etc., something that in real life a character like that would never do. Oh yeah, before I forget it, Ferch's character's joke about cancer was also really offensive to actual cancer patients. So the script is not just bad, but also disgusting at times, for example this one occasion that I just mentioned when it tries to be edgy.
Okay, now I am already a bit into the story. I wannt to list a few more moments and scenes when this film was at its worst, so you understand that you have to skip the watch here at any cost. The absolutely worst is that the male protagonist shows up in drag eventually in order to find his feminine side that will help him with his professional struggles. He (or she) is working as a writer, but cannot movie forward. There is a specific term for that, I'm sure you know what I mean. Little quiz here. So I just said how disgraceful it is how the movie treats cancer patients, but people actually suffering from the previously mentioned syndrome are depicted in an equally disgusting and vile manner. It is such a joke, everything about the solution here. Maybe you have seen Dustin Hoffman's "Tootsie" and if so, then I ask you to imagine the worst possible outcome for this film, when it all had gone wrong and this is basically what we have here. It is also pretty ridiculous that a male author poses under a female alias to sell his books, but okay: If it had been only that, then I could have lived with it, maybe even accepted. But you see what to expect here when Ferch's character runs into that much younger woman who of course reads one of his books and not only that, she is also a huge admirer, but of course does not know it's him. Also very realistic that people have never seen said author. Must be a really private person no? Anyway, as for the new love interest, there is also a scene when she undresses in front of Ferch's character and this is really typical for a film with him as part of the cast. His wildness and masculinity leaves the women helpess, while at the same time he has to discover is inner female self here. Sigh. Of course, for us not to forget it is Ferch, we also get to see him several times topless under the shower etc. to see what a hunky alpha male he is. Haha. Cringe is real here on so many occasions. For females who are still not interested (and I applaud them!), Friedrich's character also gets a few shallow references such as how she is a successful lawyer, how she is ready to move away from him for a better life (not leave him, women don't leave Ferch), how she also has at least one new man who is very interested in her. And of course (again very realistic), she shows up that very same moment seeing the protagonist in drag that is maybe the most cringeworthy moment of the entire film. Or maybe that is when she drops the wig eventually on stage in the end. Or when more pseudo drama is created with the birth taking place that exact night. But surely, they needed to get in a happy ending of any kind, after being not 100% clear about if the married couples stays together ot if they end up with their now romantic interests. Staying alone, which would probably be a realistic path in real life, is never an option for any of the two. Okay, I think that would be all. You get the point I assume. This was a terrible movie from beginning to end, way overrated here on imdb as well and whenever it will be on television in the next 10, maybe 20 years, I highly recommend to switch off your TV immediately. Fat thumbs-down! The only break somebody should take here is a break from movies for everybody who agreed to be a part of this mess.
Okay, now I am already a bit into the story. I wannt to list a few more moments and scenes when this film was at its worst, so you understand that you have to skip the watch here at any cost. The absolutely worst is that the male protagonist shows up in drag eventually in order to find his feminine side that will help him with his professional struggles. He (or she) is working as a writer, but cannot movie forward. There is a specific term for that, I'm sure you know what I mean. Little quiz here. So I just said how disgraceful it is how the movie treats cancer patients, but people actually suffering from the previously mentioned syndrome are depicted in an equally disgusting and vile manner. It is such a joke, everything about the solution here. Maybe you have seen Dustin Hoffman's "Tootsie" and if so, then I ask you to imagine the worst possible outcome for this film, when it all had gone wrong and this is basically what we have here. It is also pretty ridiculous that a male author poses under a female alias to sell his books, but okay: If it had been only that, then I could have lived with it, maybe even accepted. But you see what to expect here when Ferch's character runs into that much younger woman who of course reads one of his books and not only that, she is also a huge admirer, but of course does not know it's him. Also very realistic that people have never seen said author. Must be a really private person no? Anyway, as for the new love interest, there is also a scene when she undresses in front of Ferch's character and this is really typical for a film with him as part of the cast. His wildness and masculinity leaves the women helpess, while at the same time he has to discover is inner female self here. Sigh. Of course, for us not to forget it is Ferch, we also get to see him several times topless under the shower etc. to see what a hunky alpha male he is. Haha. Cringe is real here on so many occasions. For females who are still not interested (and I applaud them!), Friedrich's character also gets a few shallow references such as how she is a successful lawyer, how she is ready to move away from him for a better life (not leave him, women don't leave Ferch), how she also has at least one new man who is very interested in her. And of course (again very realistic), she shows up that very same moment seeing the protagonist in drag that is maybe the most cringeworthy moment of the entire film. Or maybe that is when she drops the wig eventually on stage in the end. Or when more pseudo drama is created with the birth taking place that exact night. But surely, they needed to get in a happy ending of any kind, after being not 100% clear about if the married couples stays together ot if they end up with their now romantic interests. Staying alone, which would probably be a realistic path in real life, is never an option for any of the two. Okay, I think that would be all. You get the point I assume. This was a terrible movie from beginning to end, way overrated here on imdb as well and whenever it will be on television in the next 10, maybe 20 years, I highly recommend to switch off your TV immediately. Fat thumbs-down! The only break somebody should take here is a break from movies for everybody who agreed to be a part of this mess.
