"Ein Gauner Gottes" is a German television film from 2004, so this one had its 15th anniversary last year. It runs for 1.5 hours approximately like they usually do and there were no less than three writers in charge of the script here, which is definitely unusual for German television movies and it is even more shocking thatg the outcome was this bad overall then. It is just as if they combined all their lack of talent for this project. I will spare you the names, but let me mention that the director is Helmut Metzger here and his body of work is packed with Katie Fforde adaptations and she is basically a less famous Rosamunde Pilcher. I think this says enough. Also I wish I could say it as just these, but Metzger has many many other films of low quality included there. Plain embarrassing. So this film was definitely doomed from the beginning. The fact that the cast has more known names than your average small screen release here in Germany does not really change anything. The central character (also the one referenced in the title) is played by Fritz Wepper. He is the older from the two Weppers, who have been famous for decades now, and in my opinion, he is the less talented from the two. Maybe the reference of God in this film already makes clear to you what I mean with the title of my review, otherwise let me explain it to you: Wepper started working on a television show named "Um Himmels Willen" briefly before he made this film and said television series (that is still running today almost two decades later) was a huge success with ratings back then, so they made this film because they were positive most people who watched the series about Wepper playing a guy somewhat close to God would also watch this film that has at least some parallels. And to make sure, nobody oversees it, they also used the word "God" in the title here.
Now this should be enough about the background, let me say a few words about this film itself here. I thought it was weak when it peaked and really horrible when it "peaked" on the other end of the scale. It's not really epper's fault. The script is just a trainwreck from beginning to end. Now I must say those parts about everything linked to the Church is still on a level that is not entirely bad, even if it is far from good nonetheless. Sattmann for example showed here and there that he is an okay actor, but his character being the main antagonist was also written so poorly that it was sometimes painful to watch. There was really almost no cast member that deserved what they had coming their way. With one exception, namely the only female character wiith significant screen time and she is played by Saskia Vester and boy was she bad. Her character was (like the others) suffering from really poor writing, but she was the only one who made things even worse and this includes basically every scene that is somewhat romance-related and there are some quotes and line deliveries that I just want to ban from by brain forever. So I won't go into detail. Needless to say she also got the almost obligatory story that the main antagonist is also crushing on her, so we actually believe she is interesting and desirable (which she is not) and the scene when he comes to her place and pushes his way inside because he suspects that she has Wepper's character with her was just the worst. Unbearably bad. Now I said something about the major supporting players, but let's not forget that Wepper himself also has bad materiel to work with. This includes basically his entire introduction and background when and why he arrives on the location where the entire film takes place and is immediately involved in some brawl with young guys trying to rob him. Of course, he is gritty and masculine and manages to beat them up before running away as the police is about to arrive on scene. Apart from that, there is also a really rushed-in shoddy story about an argument between brothers that seems finite, but of course the moment the other brother finds old photos, it is all over and they are getting along again. It is just embarrassing. Add to that the entire story with Vester's character and how she supports him constantly (I spoke about her before), but also his altruistic fight for the church there that is in danger of being removed for commercial interests. Or at least changed in a crucial way, which of course the "bad guy" tries to put into effect. Or that Wepper's character is asked to hold a sermon. Or that he actually succeeds eventually. I mean it is okay if he had been one of many supporting the cause, but he is the trailblazer. Or when early on he arrives and how he acts during this finner was supposed to be one of the funniest moments of the film, but it's just 100% cringe. And finally (both in terms of my review and the film) there is this moment when he is about to leave (because people found out about his super stupid and ridiculous background story) and then he has a meaningul encounter with somebody who tells him something along the lines basically that it is better to go back and so he does and crashes the event and in the end, he saves the church, gets obviously together with the woman and so on blah blah blah. It was just bad, entertainment of the worst kind for the easily entertained. Not much hesitation here for me to give this film the (for me) lowest rating possible, namely one star out of five. Highly not recommended. Not even good enough for German afternoon television.
Now this should be enough about the background, let me say a few words about this film itself here. I thought it was weak when it peaked and really horrible when it "peaked" on the other end of the scale. It's not really epper's fault. The script is just a trainwreck from beginning to end. Now I must say those parts about everything linked to the Church is still on a level that is not entirely bad, even if it is far from good nonetheless. Sattmann for example showed here and there that he is an okay actor, but his character being the main antagonist was also written so poorly that it was sometimes painful to watch. There was really almost no cast member that deserved what they had coming their way. With one exception, namely the only female character wiith significant screen time and she is played by Saskia Vester and boy was she bad. Her character was (like the others) suffering from really poor writing, but she was the only one who made things even worse and this includes basically every scene that is somewhat romance-related and there are some quotes and line deliveries that I just want to ban from by brain forever. So I won't go into detail. Needless to say she also got the almost obligatory story that the main antagonist is also crushing on her, so we actually believe she is interesting and desirable (which she is not) and the scene when he comes to her place and pushes his way inside because he suspects that she has Wepper's character with her was just the worst. Unbearably bad. Now I said something about the major supporting players, but let's not forget that Wepper himself also has bad materiel to work with. This includes basically his entire introduction and background when and why he arrives on the location where the entire film takes place and is immediately involved in some brawl with young guys trying to rob him. Of course, he is gritty and masculine and manages to beat them up before running away as the police is about to arrive on scene. Apart from that, there is also a really rushed-in shoddy story about an argument between brothers that seems finite, but of course the moment the other brother finds old photos, it is all over and they are getting along again. It is just embarrassing. Add to that the entire story with Vester's character and how she supports him constantly (I spoke about her before), but also his altruistic fight for the church there that is in danger of being removed for commercial interests. Or at least changed in a crucial way, which of course the "bad guy" tries to put into effect. Or that Wepper's character is asked to hold a sermon. Or that he actually succeeds eventually. I mean it is okay if he had been one of many supporting the cause, but he is the trailblazer. Or when early on he arrives and how he acts during this finner was supposed to be one of the funniest moments of the film, but it's just 100% cringe. And finally (both in terms of my review and the film) there is this moment when he is about to leave (because people found out about his super stupid and ridiculous background story) and then he has a meaningul encounter with somebody who tells him something along the lines basically that it is better to go back and so he does and crashes the event and in the end, he saves the church, gets obviously together with the woman and so on blah blah blah. It was just bad, entertainment of the worst kind for the easily entertained. Not much hesitation here for me to give this film the (for me) lowest rating possible, namely one star out of five. Highly not recommended. Not even good enough for German afternoon television.
