Sometime in August (2009) User Reviews

Cannot live up to the high standards its creator implies

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 1 October 2019]

"Mitte Ende August" (literal translation "mid-late August") or "Sometime in August" is a German movie from summer 2009, not released in August though, but close. It is a big screen release written and directed by (prolific actor) Sometime in August and this was his third work as a filmmaker, definitely not his most known. That one goes to either "Absolute Giganten" or "Victoria" and I believe both of them are superior to the one we have here. Actually, it kinda surprises me though that it took me about a decade since the film came out to finally see it because the name has been pretty familiar to me for a long time and I knew I'd watch it eventually. Admittedly, I did not miss too much here. Not surprisingly given Schipper's earlier successes and reputation in the industry, he got some really well-known German actors on board here. The main character is played by Milan Peschel an I am always a bit undecided about him. i do think he is somewhat talented, but he also has a tendency to play the same character in several films he is in, also in terms of mannerisms, but yeah as long as he is not playing Schweighöfer's sidekick in crappy comedies I am fine with him. Marie Bäumer I don't like. I think she is incredibly overrated and not gifted at all, also not as Romy Schneider, but here neither. Hennicke is always a nice inclusion in my opinion and Anna Brüggemann is a really stunning actress looks-wise, but also has some range I think. The late Gert Voss, well his role is rather small, but I guess his character speaks for himself, nothing negative to add here. So it is a pretty small cast actually, but all the actors have the material to shine at times. Some do, others not so much, up to you to decide who fits which description, also based on personal preference. The reason why there aren't too many characters here is because the film begins as a two-person piece and there is even talk about the two just staying for themselves and spending a chilling time in the nature. However, they end up helping the male protagonist's brother (I really liked what Hennicke did with his partial deafness, he really made a lot with this character given how little he had to work with) and then also a young woman joins them, a friend she is and a couple more characters enter the picture. It seems lighter early on, but the longer it goes, the more obvious it becomes it is a full-blown drama, maybe family drama you could say at best with the bonds between some of the characters. Sadly I must also say that the film does not manage to keep me interested for its 1.5 hours, slightly longer with full credits perhaps. Early on, it is interesting and I thought it could be a nice idea to turn this into play, but with the direction the plot takes in the second half, I really just couldn't care less eventually. A bit of a pity though. It is certainly not a failure, but overall I gove it a thumbs-down. The better moments, also the use of music and soundtrack, not just the cover played during the closing credits, feels solidly atmospheric, they are there these better moments, but they are not frequent and dominant enough for me to look past the mediocrity and less inspiring moments. So I felt the movie dragged a bit for my taste and the character, basically all of them, could have been written in a more interesting manner. Finally the title of my review refers to the fact that this film is based on a work by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, of course a challenge to take on and turn his work into a modern movie. But how does it say (vaguely) in Germany that people (just like livers) grow with their challenges. This challenge here was a bit too much for Schipper. Watch something else instead.