"Zimmer mit Stall - Tierisch gute Ferien" is a German television film from summer 2019, so actually only slightly over a year old now. It runs for 1.5 hours like the vast majority of German small screen movies. However, it is a bit debatable if you can really call it a movie because with all that followed afterwards, this is turning more into a series now and there have been five episodes until now. This is the second and at that point it was not yet sure that this would apparently also be a success with autdiences and ratings in the long term. Ingo Rasper wrote and directed the first and for this sequel Ralf Huettner took over, probably an even bigger name looking at his long career and also the success he has had with some films, most of all "Vincent will Meer", over the years. He also wrote the screenplay. Two of the protagonists you can see on the poster here, although I would say neither is as much in the center as you could think from the photo. And sadly, neither is the lama because that one only shows up once. I can see why though. It is not a goat and took a lot of effort. But still, then they should not feature it this prominently and trick people onto thinking it plays a key role. It's still more interesting i assume than lead actors Aglaia Szyszkowitz and Friedrich von Thun, both with Eastern European background, whcih maybe you did not think with von Thun at least. Maybe Beyer and Grauwiller are other cast members you have come across. That is also pretty much everybody already I recognize here from the name and many probably won't even recognize those if they are not on the same film buff level like myself, which is extremely likely. But especially the younger female actors in here are fairly attractive. This is the first from the series I have seen, so I cannot say which of the cast members are recurring except the two on the photo. They are in every movie and strangely enough the guy's last name changes in terms of spelling. Is there a logical reason behind that or were they simply clumsy? I think it could very well be the latter because this is an ARD Degeto productions and on those 100s of films they were a part of, they did not exactly shine through great attention to detail, although accidental changes in names is really taking it to the next level.
Alright, what can I say about this film in particular? It is very countryside-based as you already expected and we have Aglaia's character (let me use the first name here for simplicity reasons) operate her hotel and she is (despite the dress) more of a modern businesswoman, but von Thun's character is the conventional one who wants to keep the status quo and this results in inevitable clashes with the two characters having pretty different plans. But neither is an antagonist. It is all about finding the best solution for them both. or at least one character realizing the other's solution is not that bad in fact as they initially thought. Compromises are a crucial component of this film. sadly, they do not feel particularly realistic most of the time. The antagonists are usually money-hungry, greedy businessmen instead. And they get their fair share too because the unrealistic happy ending is inevitable and I hope nobody is surprised by that. What else can I say? Oh yeah, the fact that this film even includes two words linked to animals in the title (especially the German word for animal itself), these is really disappointingly little animal action here. And what there is makes little sense and feels all for the sake of it. I am talking about the goat in the hotel room here for example. I mean it makes sense they have some agricultural animals down there in the hay, but up there really? Where it could pee and do other stuff anytime? I don't think so. But yeah, like I said in the title of my review: The easily entertained will believe it too and just suck in everything they are presented here I am sure. The subplot about a guy struggling with his upcoming fathership and if he wants to man up to the task are nothing but uninspired filler material. Honestly, even the key story fits this description. Yeah, there is nothing good about this film at all. No hesitation for me in giving it a thumbs-down and I believe it is on failure territory. Also, as almost always with Degeto, the film has strong anti-male tendencies. Let's just say, gently-speaking, that male characters are in their entirety depicted less reliable, less likable and less determined than women here, which also shows you that this film is mostly for female audiences. Again, like the vast majority of ARD Degeto productions. Disgusting that this was shown on prime time on ARD for its premiere. Your GEZ money at work. With Szyszkowitz I must say that I have seen her in other films over the years and I always thought that we was fairly attractive, but not really a good actress at all gently-speaking. She confirms it here and now that she is in her 50s her looks are really fading as well. Or actually have. So I am surprised that she is still getting lead roles in 2019/2020. But yeah, maybe the consequence of her long presence in these almost always terrible films. This one here is not any better. Fat thumbs-down.
Alright, what can I say about this film in particular? It is very countryside-based as you already expected and we have Aglaia's character (let me use the first name here for simplicity reasons) operate her hotel and she is (despite the dress) more of a modern businesswoman, but von Thun's character is the conventional one who wants to keep the status quo and this results in inevitable clashes with the two characters having pretty different plans. But neither is an antagonist. It is all about finding the best solution for them both. or at least one character realizing the other's solution is not that bad in fact as they initially thought. Compromises are a crucial component of this film. sadly, they do not feel particularly realistic most of the time. The antagonists are usually money-hungry, greedy businessmen instead. And they get their fair share too because the unrealistic happy ending is inevitable and I hope nobody is surprised by that. What else can I say? Oh yeah, the fact that this film even includes two words linked to animals in the title (especially the German word for animal itself), these is really disappointingly little animal action here. And what there is makes little sense and feels all for the sake of it. I am talking about the goat in the hotel room here for example. I mean it makes sense they have some agricultural animals down there in the hay, but up there really? Where it could pee and do other stuff anytime? I don't think so. But yeah, like I said in the title of my review: The easily entertained will believe it too and just suck in everything they are presented here I am sure. The subplot about a guy struggling with his upcoming fathership and if he wants to man up to the task are nothing but uninspired filler material. Honestly, even the key story fits this description. Yeah, there is nothing good about this film at all. No hesitation for me in giving it a thumbs-down and I believe it is on failure territory. Also, as almost always with Degeto, the film has strong anti-male tendencies. Let's just say, gently-speaking, that male characters are in their entirety depicted less reliable, less likable and less determined than women here, which also shows you that this film is mostly for female audiences. Again, like the vast majority of ARD Degeto productions. Disgusting that this was shown on prime time on ARD for its premiere. Your GEZ money at work. With Szyszkowitz I must say that I have seen her in other films over the years and I always thought that we was fairly attractive, but not really a good actress at all gently-speaking. She confirms it here and now that she is in her 50s her looks are really fading as well. Or actually have. So I am surprised that she is still getting lead roles in 2019/2020. But yeah, maybe the consequence of her long presence in these almost always terrible films. This one here is not any better. Fat thumbs-down.
