"Harte Jungs" is a German movie from 2000. It is relatively short, stays easily under the 90-minute mark and was directed by Marc Rothemund. It is certainly still one of his most known works, even if his career-defining film is probably the Oscar-nominated "Sophie Scholl". The writer is Granz Henman, i.e. he adapted Alberto Moravia's novel. And Moravia was already dead for 10 years, which may have been a good thing that he did not see the outcome of this film we have here. As for Henman, he went on to write and also direct the sequel to "Harte Jungs" two years later. I would try to justify his weak work on these two films by lack of experience, but honestly it is not possible as his possibly best movie "Der Eisbär" was also his very first and some of his recent work, after being busy in the industry for a long time, is downright horrible ("Coming In"). Anyway, back to this one here. It is comedy from start to finish with the occasional romance/fantasy element. Lookikng at the cast you will find several names that are still somewhat known today like (the then still chubby) Stein, Tander, Jürgens, Perlinger, Sawatzki, Ruland and lead actor Schenke, whose star has gone down pretty quickly though. But also with these names, it becomes obvious that (almost) all of these are actors who never really scored with great talent or range, but rather with charisma and recognition value and maybe also a memorable physicality for the women mostly.
And still, the actors are not really the ones to blame for what a mess this film turned out to be. It is the script. First of all, the part about talking male genitalia is taken early as a crucial component of the plot and then it is not elaborated on later at all for really really long sequences as if it is the most normal thing in the world. Besides that, the plot is as predictable as nonsensical really. This includes for example the parents' talk with the protagonist, but also all the conversations with the girl of his dreams. And how are we supposed to like him if he (freshly together with the real girl of his dreams that truly loves him) starts looking after the first attractive other girl he encounters. Is that what men are? Maybe some, maybe also the central character here. And maybe this is why (besides from Schenke's lack of talent) he comes off as a complete jerk and idiot from start to finish. It sure takes a special lack of range if you are easily outclassed by a genuinely mediocre actor like Axel Stein in your movie. So yeah, there is a decent moment here and there and it is also very much in the film's favor that it does not take itself seriously at all because it does not have any right to, but as a whole this was a disappointment and I am glad it runs for 80 minutes only and this already includes credits. But sadly people back then here in Germany loved trash comedies already as much as they do today and the consequence was a sequel that turned out probably worse even than this one here and that's quite a challenge. Then again, you should already stay away from this very first film. Not recommended.
And still, the actors are not really the ones to blame for what a mess this film turned out to be. It is the script. First of all, the part about talking male genitalia is taken early as a crucial component of the plot and then it is not elaborated on later at all for really really long sequences as if it is the most normal thing in the world. Besides that, the plot is as predictable as nonsensical really. This includes for example the parents' talk with the protagonist, but also all the conversations with the girl of his dreams. And how are we supposed to like him if he (freshly together with the real girl of his dreams that truly loves him) starts looking after the first attractive other girl he encounters. Is that what men are? Maybe some, maybe also the central character here. And maybe this is why (besides from Schenke's lack of talent) he comes off as a complete jerk and idiot from start to finish. It sure takes a special lack of range if you are easily outclassed by a genuinely mediocre actor like Axel Stein in your movie. So yeah, there is a decent moment here and there and it is also very much in the film's favor that it does not take itself seriously at all because it does not have any right to, but as a whole this was a disappointment and I am glad it runs for 80 minutes only and this already includes credits. But sadly people back then here in Germany loved trash comedies already as much as they do today and the consequence was a sequel that turned out probably worse even than this one here and that's quite a challenge. Then again, you should already stay away from this very first film. Not recommended.