"Ein Baby zum Verlieben", which means "A baby to fall in love with", is a German television film from 2004, so this one had its 15th anniversary last year already, which means these 1.5 hours are absolutely not a new or fresh release. The director is Hartmut Griesmayr, who sounds Bavarian, but is in fact from Thuringia and speaking of Thuringia, to show you how old this film already is, it can be said that between when this was made and now in 2020 there is a bigger gap in time than between the Fall of the Berlin Wall and when this movie was made. Enough said. Now with Griesmayr, I find it fairly shocking (in the most negative way possible) how he has made films since the 1960s already, but back in 2004 and not too far away from retirement anymore, this is the level he has come to. Unreal stuff and I don't think I am exaggerating here was the other stuff from the final years of his career does not seem any better basically. The screenplay is by Monika Peetz, who is younger, was 40 when this came out, but also has not worked on new projects for five years now. It is probably a good thing for both the director and writer because gently-speaking, the level of quality here (or lack thereof) does not exactly make me curious about other stuff they have some up with. The two lead actors are not German in fact. Anica Dobra is Serbian (well Yugoslavian to be precise) and Bernhard Schir is Austrian. You can see them both on the photo here on imdb. Their presence does not make me more curious either I must say. Schir has been in several of these crappy German TV productions (actually another is shown tomorrow and I will probably check it out) and in this one here he is also not good at all, has two or three fairly bad moments, but admittedly he is nowhere near the failure level of Dobra this time. Her line delivery was as stale and wooden as it gets. What a major disappointment really. Then again, it was about as weak as I expected because I have seen her in other films and I was never one bit impressed. No idea how she managed to get cast for lead characters. I guess people with a soft spot for blondes could be attracted by her. That's all I can come up with really for an explanation. However, as bad as she may be, she is nowhere near the level of cluelessness as those who even nominate her for awards despite her complete absence of versatility and range. How could they? Anyway, frequently I state as an apology for the lead actors that the script is so bad that not even the best actors could have turned it into a quality piece. This is certainly also true here, but still these two (or 1.5 if we count Schir as a half) take it down to the next level on the failure scale. Or up. What I mean is that they turn it into an even bigger failure and it sures takes a special kind of absence of talent to do so.
The supporting cast also includes actors you may have come across if you are not a rookie when it comes to German movies. However, they are all not good either, be it Müller-Elmau as the other woman, be it Landuris as the best friend or be it Kroymann (I'll never understand what people see in her, she is so mediocre, frequently bad even) as the colleague with the special accent. Some of these also have scenes that stood out in a most negative fashion. The revelation about Landuris' character that he was also once dating the male protagonist's (initial) love interest. Kroymann's scene when she is sleeping while they are trying to steal the key or something. And really many scenes involving KME. Even as somebody who liked brunettes, I cannot find any justification for her character. The cringe is real, even if it does not always directly involves her. Just take the moment at the gym when he lifts the baby up and down while she actually exercises. Or the scene in which he talks with football language when the baby catches her attention. Or how he tries to be on good terms with Dobra's character, so he can have her baby to further impress KME's character. But of course Schir's and Dobra's characters end up together. As if these has even been any doubt whatsoever. There was not. Even when they got in her former love interest and when the woman of Schir's character's dreams (he surely idolized her) wants him all of a sudden. Who cares if the two protagonists did not like each other early on at all, especially how he did not like her with the messes she kept creating and he is her direct neighbor. By the way, police officers will probably also not be too happy to see how they are depicted here with this fairly srupid traffic refulation system the main protagonist comes up. All feels for the sake of it. Then again, it is another Degeto production, so best is if you expect nothing. No, actually best is if you move on without watching. If you keep your distance 100% from this film. Yes, it is this bad. As bad as the pretty cheesy title already suggests. And the photo as well. And don't even get me started on the dyslexia idea. TThis is really a slap into the face of all the people who really struggle with dyslexia. The way it was depicted here I mean. So much for making a pseudo important emotional impact, but just like everything else, it all goes wrong. This basically shows you that they had pretty great expectations and also ambitions for this movie, but the talent simply isn't there. Not in a single area of production. In its best moments, this film is merely bland, in its worse moments it is horribly cringeworthy. Like what was up with the ending? They are barely together and we find out that now they are going to marry. Talk about the epitome of highly unrealistic happy endings. An absolute insult to everybody in the audience with an IQ over 50. Highly not recommended.
The supporting cast also includes actors you may have come across if you are not a rookie when it comes to German movies. However, they are all not good either, be it Müller-Elmau as the other woman, be it Landuris as the best friend or be it Kroymann (I'll never understand what people see in her, she is so mediocre, frequently bad even) as the colleague with the special accent. Some of these also have scenes that stood out in a most negative fashion. The revelation about Landuris' character that he was also once dating the male protagonist's (initial) love interest. Kroymann's scene when she is sleeping while they are trying to steal the key or something. And really many scenes involving KME. Even as somebody who liked brunettes, I cannot find any justification for her character. The cringe is real, even if it does not always directly involves her. Just take the moment at the gym when he lifts the baby up and down while she actually exercises. Or the scene in which he talks with football language when the baby catches her attention. Or how he tries to be on good terms with Dobra's character, so he can have her baby to further impress KME's character. But of course Schir's and Dobra's characters end up together. As if these has even been any doubt whatsoever. There was not. Even when they got in her former love interest and when the woman of Schir's character's dreams (he surely idolized her) wants him all of a sudden. Who cares if the two protagonists did not like each other early on at all, especially how he did not like her with the messes she kept creating and he is her direct neighbor. By the way, police officers will probably also not be too happy to see how they are depicted here with this fairly srupid traffic refulation system the main protagonist comes up. All feels for the sake of it. Then again, it is another Degeto production, so best is if you expect nothing. No, actually best is if you move on without watching. If you keep your distance 100% from this film. Yes, it is this bad. As bad as the pretty cheesy title already suggests. And the photo as well. And don't even get me started on the dyslexia idea. TThis is really a slap into the face of all the people who really struggle with dyslexia. The way it was depicted here I mean. So much for making a pseudo important emotional impact, but just like everything else, it all goes wrong. This basically shows you that they had pretty great expectations and also ambitions for this movie, but the talent simply isn't there. Not in a single area of production. In its best moments, this film is merely bland, in its worse moments it is horribly cringeworthy. Like what was up with the ending? They are barely together and we find out that now they are going to marry. Talk about the epitome of highly unrealistic happy endings. An absolute insult to everybody in the audience with an IQ over 50. Highly not recommended.
