"Mit einem Rutsch ins Glück", which basically means "with one slip into happiness" or you can also say "slide" or "glide" instead of "slip" I suppose, is a German television film from 2003, so this one is already way over 15 years old, but for some strange reason still on national television here and there. At least it was yesterday. It really shouldn't be given the quality. The director is Dietmar Klein and I don't really have nothing too positive to say him either and that is already really gently-speaking. He began making films in the early 1990s already and even if some of his works may have been tolerable back then, the direction he has been taking in the new millennium is absolutely weak and no quality whatsoever. This is also emphasized by the fact that basically all he has been doing in the last few years was the extremely forgettable pseudo police/sea drama "Notruf Hafenkante". He is a filmmaker who (almost) never writes scripts himself for what he is directing, so the one in charge of the screenplay here was Gabriele Kreis. Definitely not as prolific as the director and I cannot be as harsh on her as I am on him because she was part of some of these modern fairytale films and some of them I like, but I feel this also has to do more with the original story than really with her involvement and apart from that, I am not sure I like those specific ones she worked on. So back to this one here: It was doomed for failure really with these two in charge and also of course with these under 1.5 hours being an ARD Degeto production. They are almost always horrible and it is absolutely disgraceful how much money ARD put into hundreds (if not thousands) of these films already, money they literally forced everybody to pay them, no matter if you atch their films or even if you do not watch their channel. As for the cast here, there are some familiar faces, but not too many. Heio von Stetten, the male love interest, is the most known face I suppose. I guess almost everybody was more known back then than they are today. von Stetten also lookes really young here, even if he was already in his early 40s too. Which makes it a bit strange because the female lead Anja Kruse looks older than she was back then and the gap seems more than five years. I guess this was also to somewhat justify the existence of the other guy in her life, the one who is considerably older than her and whom she has having an affair with for a long time. It's always funny by the way how female characters in these films are always supposed to be seen in a way that they are independent, that they don't need men to succeed and yet they do stuff like that, like having an affair with a married man for years. The latter is played by Wolf Roth and I don't think many know the actor today anymore. No offense. That's pretty much it in terms of slightly known cast members. Oh and Nina Hoger perhaps, but she is also down to trash like "Um Himmels Willen" nowadays, so barely worth the mention. Apart from that, there are also really terrible actresses in here, like the young woman who just got promoted and wants the female protagonist's job. Man she was unwatchable at times, even if the script clearly was not doing her any favors, but the part was way too big for her and nobody forced her to accept it either. So can't let her get away like that.
Still I want to emphasize that I don't need a big name cast if the story is smart, creative and compelling. Nothing of that applies here. It is bland, uninspired and unrealistic from beginning to end. I will list a few examples and inclusions why I am this harsh with my verdict. It already starts with some nonsense coincidence, namely with how the female protagonist slips at a business meeting and falls down and the guy who is vaguely responsible for that is of course her new neighbor. Yeah, right. It's a small world, also in such a big city like the one where this film is set. Afterwards we get the aforementioned colleague who wants her job and it is 100% clear she is not fit for the job, but her folling around with the meain character's boss is apparently justification enough for this premise. Then there is a call from the female protagonist and it is about when she will meet the man she is in love with, but it's not gonna work out the next day because she is about to travel to Paris for work reasons. What a great woman, just a random one-day trip to France as if it wwas nothing! Of course, her man does not even know that, so I guess they really are talking a lot. Not. Makes no sense either really. Then there is this sequence where the two lovebirds (not the aforementioned guy) gets to know her because they have to act as partners and this sequence was so fake and cringe, but hey HvS's character enjoys it because he realizes what an amazing woman the female protagonist is. He knows right away. And wants to spend more time with her. It is always like that in films like this one. The woman is basically always the one in charge and has the privilege to have all men drool for her. I guess it is this way to make the mostly female audience members feel the same way that they want to be like this too. Reality bites, so they are the ones that this film is actually most harmful to. Apart from them watching this nonsense for almost 90 minutes on a regular basis. What else? Oh yes, the story with the guy eventually being left by his wife because she knows about his cheating and what bothers her more is that everybody else knows. She is also not an antagonist really, but the fact that she ditches the dude makes her self-confident and likable. He is the only one supposed to be seen as a fool in this relationship. There is also the cringeworthy airport scene or the fake argument before that with the big conflict where the man then has to beg for forgiveness right afterwards with a big bouquet of flowers. There is this scene when the first lover moves in with the protagonist and immediately treats her in a slightly disrespectful way where she has to get out all his shirts for him and generally he is more like a boy still and can't get along without a woman as we learn. The business parts are not convincing either. Then again, most of the job-related stuff is about the female protagonist's best friend who apparently has no purpose other than walking around and telling her about the men he appreciates. He is gay. And well, don't even get me started about the blossoming relationship between him and the bald guy from the little snack bar in the end. This is all. You are getting it now. All this and the really rushed-in happy ending make it extremely obvious this is a terrible movie. It also has the over-the-top soundtrack as they always do with Degeto. The script is as uncreative as it gets and the talent is also not there when it comes to basically all other production values, so I guess their idea was to simply turn up the volume to create some emotion? I don't even... Fat thumbs-down. Highly not recommended.
Still I want to emphasize that I don't need a big name cast if the story is smart, creative and compelling. Nothing of that applies here. It is bland, uninspired and unrealistic from beginning to end. I will list a few examples and inclusions why I am this harsh with my verdict. It already starts with some nonsense coincidence, namely with how the female protagonist slips at a business meeting and falls down and the guy who is vaguely responsible for that is of course her new neighbor. Yeah, right. It's a small world, also in such a big city like the one where this film is set. Afterwards we get the aforementioned colleague who wants her job and it is 100% clear she is not fit for the job, but her folling around with the meain character's boss is apparently justification enough for this premise. Then there is a call from the female protagonist and it is about when she will meet the man she is in love with, but it's not gonna work out the next day because she is about to travel to Paris for work reasons. What a great woman, just a random one-day trip to France as if it wwas nothing! Of course, her man does not even know that, so I guess they really are talking a lot. Not. Makes no sense either really. Then there is this sequence where the two lovebirds (not the aforementioned guy) gets to know her because they have to act as partners and this sequence was so fake and cringe, but hey HvS's character enjoys it because he realizes what an amazing woman the female protagonist is. He knows right away. And wants to spend more time with her. It is always like that in films like this one. The woman is basically always the one in charge and has the privilege to have all men drool for her. I guess it is this way to make the mostly female audience members feel the same way that they want to be like this too. Reality bites, so they are the ones that this film is actually most harmful to. Apart from them watching this nonsense for almost 90 minutes on a regular basis. What else? Oh yes, the story with the guy eventually being left by his wife because she knows about his cheating and what bothers her more is that everybody else knows. She is also not an antagonist really, but the fact that she ditches the dude makes her self-confident and likable. He is the only one supposed to be seen as a fool in this relationship. There is also the cringeworthy airport scene or the fake argument before that with the big conflict where the man then has to beg for forgiveness right afterwards with a big bouquet of flowers. There is this scene when the first lover moves in with the protagonist and immediately treats her in a slightly disrespectful way where she has to get out all his shirts for him and generally he is more like a boy still and can't get along without a woman as we learn. The business parts are not convincing either. Then again, most of the job-related stuff is about the female protagonist's best friend who apparently has no purpose other than walking around and telling her about the men he appreciates. He is gay. And well, don't even get me started about the blossoming relationship between him and the bald guy from the little snack bar in the end. This is all. You are getting it now. All this and the really rushed-in happy ending make it extremely obvious this is a terrible movie. It also has the over-the-top soundtrack as they always do with Degeto. The script is as uncreative as it gets and the talent is also not there when it comes to basically all other production values, so I guess their idea was to simply turn up the volume to create some emotion? I don't even... Fat thumbs-down. Highly not recommended.
