This is "Leonhards Traum", which means "Leonhard's Dream", a German television film that aired briefly before Christmas back in 2019 for the first time, which means this film is over one year and one month old now. Today I watched it on national television and the title they were going with was "Eine Almhütte für Zwei" ("An Alpine Cabin for Two"). Maybe this is a better title contents-wise because the two protagonists are basically on the same level in terms of inclusion frequency, plots and screen time. Maybe the female is even more at the center of it with her pregnance plot. Also the idea of the male protagonist having some kind of defining dream is not as much in this film as you could think it is with such a title. Anyway, this runs for 1.5 hours, minimally under, and the director is Benedikt Roeskau, a prolific writer (Nordwand is kinda famous, apart from that mostly television projects) in fact, but this one here is his very first full feature film as director and he also only worked on one short film in the past as a director. Pretty late change of career for somebody who turns 60 this year and if we take a look at the outcome here, perhaps not the wisest choice. He was even more prolific in the sound department. Of course, he is a writer here as well, which puts even more blame on him. The original idea is by Sylvia Leuker. Cannot say too much about her. Her body is nothing good either though. Very weak projects included in this one and I am not only talking about the terrible series "In aller Freundschaft" with which she launched her career over two decades ago. By the way, I know you should not speak disrespectfully about the dead, but sadly it is the truth that she does not seem particularly creative to me and this film here, her final credit as she died over half a year before the release, is just more evidence of that.
As for the cast, things look slightly brighter, but also not a lot. Lead actor is Tom Beck and I have never seen a lot of talent in him at all, especially with his "Alarm für Cobra 11" background. Anna Drexler, the female lead, I am not familiar with at all, but I also don't think she was ready for the character here. Went ham way too often and over the top. Too challenging of a role for her. Admittedly the writing was not helping one bit either must be said. I doubt many could have made this character work. I see Drexler has been for slightly over five years only in the industry, but then again it makes sense because she is still pretty young. The positivity I talked about earlier mostly came from Annette Frier and Martin Brambach. Frier is an actress I have always had a bit of a soft spot for. Well, more of a comedian to be honest. But this appreciation has also gotten less lately because she has been in quite a few really weak and uncreative films like this one here. As for Brambach, there is something about him I have always liked, probably just subjective taste. And I guess I will always like him. He may not be the most versatile guy on the planet either, but he is definitely better than what he could show us here. He was really wasted. At least Frier (his partner here and they are the parents of the female protagonist) has some moments she could have turned into quality. Which honestly she didn't either, but sometimes made things worse, like during the scene when the daughter says something like she is not allowed to have a kid because she is disabled and the emotional outburst there did not work out at all. At least not the way it was depicted. That's pretty much it for the cast. Some other cast members that are also enjoying successful careers, but no other familiar faces. Oh yeah, I think the woman on television was pretty attractive. In that commercial or something. I think it was Stephanie Marin.
You can see from my really low rating that I did not appreciate the watch here by any means. I though the outcome was highly disappointing. But then again, this is an ARD Degeto production, so nobody can really be surprised as they are honestly a definite contender for the worst thing ever happened to German television. German television films to be more precise. There are many weak scenes and moments in here. I already mentioned how this film came very short when going for emotions, but it is also nonsense from the comedy perspective. The the almost identical approach from the two key characters when it comes to what they think about certain currencies, certain coins. This was supposed to show us how they are both awkward and different, but still the same if we compare them to each other. I thought this introduction could not have been any worse. It felt so fake and for the sake of it that it wasn't even funny anymore. Could not have been any more unrealistic and unauthentic. Another scene would be when she grabs her breasts during this television broadcast. Was that a feminist statement? Or also the one when they buy these horses, so they don't get killed. This scene was mostly there to show us how much Frier's character cares for and loves his daughter, which is nice and sweet, but the scenes they used to display this really all felt wrong and over the top. Such a pity. The statement that sometimes less can be more is something that absolutely applies to this film here. I wish they could have kept it more subtle. Oh yes, I already said that this is Degeto. How can I even be surprised. Another really weak inclusion here was the female protagonist's speech near the end that seemed so staged and fake and absolutely like nothing the female character with her mental capacity would have said there. And please don't tell me that this speech showed how well she understands emotions and everything going on around her. Again, a highly for-the-sake-of-it inclusion.
One thing that almost all of these films have in common is the strong anti-male component. These films are mostly for women and as the writers are rarely capable of writing strong and interesting female characters, they just unleash completely against the male character. This is also true for this film here. Just take the scene early on in which the female protagonist finds her boyfriend cheating with another girl. Disable or not doesn't even matter. It seems though he had a soft spot for them. It continues with the utter idea of attraction. I mean the two are similar, especially with their malfunctions, which may explain why they are turning into a couple, but let's be honest here. Beck is a heart-throb and even with them doing their very best here to have him not appear utterly handsome, he is still far more attractive than the lady he is attracted to. And she is pregnant with a child from another man. And there he is saying, he will take care of her, help her with the child. A dream scenario for her, also with the aforementioned difference in looks. And what does she do? Push him even further and talk about how he must fulfill some really strict requirements to be only allowed to be with her and help her with the child. Sure thing. I think I don't have to say anything else about that. It's self-explanatory. I applaud every audience member, especially every female, who sees through this mess and sees it for what it is. I must also say that I was fairly disappointed with the nature recordings here, in terms of both animals and mountains etc. At least from that perspective, it could have been an alright watch, but Degeto really once more gets it wrong. All of it. Funnily enough, one day earlier I watched an old L&O SVU episode on a similar subject and there it was done almost completely right in terms of elaborating on disabled characters ending up pregnant. Here it all went wrong. Funnily enough, on L&O, the actress was disabled.
Then it is also the small moments during which it was a weak film. I mentioned some examples already, but here's some more. The scene very early on with the two tourists who are initially fascinated by the man, but then run away from him as he gets out his axe. I do believe this could have been really funny indeed with better execution, but it all feel so shallow, so limited in terms of talent and craft that it was really an embarrassment. Oh yes, the inheritance. gain, very much for the sake of it. When was the last time you and your partner received a big inheritance within days, one or both of you became a parent etc. This is the opposite of an authentic film. In addition, the female lead performance makes it even unwatchable at times. Again, less can be more. This applies to everything involving Drexler, not just the final pep talk. Of course, the man obeys while absolutely not standing up for himself. Oh yes, I forgot about that, he is also pretty rich now. More reason to humiliate him. I don't even want to think about all the poor men whose women watched this film and, as a consequence, thought it was justified to treat their partners like that. These ladies deserve to be left. Just like the one in here. But of course she is not. She gets all she wants despite because she is such a strong dedicated female and her disability does not take anything away from that. I call all this nonsense. It is not a touching film, not a funny film, not a good character study and the worst thing is not that it isn't, the worst thing is that you could really feel how hard they were trying to be all that, but the talent was not there. Tom Beck's Bavarian accent was solid if I had to look for anything positive, but it is pretty telling that he is among the best aspects from a film because he is also pretty limited. But almost everything/everybody else here is worse. There are many other weak scenes and moments I haven't mentioned yet, such as the scientists they meet. And the dialogue writing is painful on the ears from beginning to end. That's all. Lowest rating possible from me here. Highly not recommended and it really sucks that this will be in national television for another decade, probably longer even.
As for the cast, things look slightly brighter, but also not a lot. Lead actor is Tom Beck and I have never seen a lot of talent in him at all, especially with his "Alarm für Cobra 11" background. Anna Drexler, the female lead, I am not familiar with at all, but I also don't think she was ready for the character here. Went ham way too often and over the top. Too challenging of a role for her. Admittedly the writing was not helping one bit either must be said. I doubt many could have made this character work. I see Drexler has been for slightly over five years only in the industry, but then again it makes sense because she is still pretty young. The positivity I talked about earlier mostly came from Annette Frier and Martin Brambach. Frier is an actress I have always had a bit of a soft spot for. Well, more of a comedian to be honest. But this appreciation has also gotten less lately because she has been in quite a few really weak and uncreative films like this one here. As for Brambach, there is something about him I have always liked, probably just subjective taste. And I guess I will always like him. He may not be the most versatile guy on the planet either, but he is definitely better than what he could show us here. He was really wasted. At least Frier (his partner here and they are the parents of the female protagonist) has some moments she could have turned into quality. Which honestly she didn't either, but sometimes made things worse, like during the scene when the daughter says something like she is not allowed to have a kid because she is disabled and the emotional outburst there did not work out at all. At least not the way it was depicted. That's pretty much it for the cast. Some other cast members that are also enjoying successful careers, but no other familiar faces. Oh yeah, I think the woman on television was pretty attractive. In that commercial or something. I think it was Stephanie Marin.
You can see from my really low rating that I did not appreciate the watch here by any means. I though the outcome was highly disappointing. But then again, this is an ARD Degeto production, so nobody can really be surprised as they are honestly a definite contender for the worst thing ever happened to German television. German television films to be more precise. There are many weak scenes and moments in here. I already mentioned how this film came very short when going for emotions, but it is also nonsense from the comedy perspective. The the almost identical approach from the two key characters when it comes to what they think about certain currencies, certain coins. This was supposed to show us how they are both awkward and different, but still the same if we compare them to each other. I thought this introduction could not have been any worse. It felt so fake and for the sake of it that it wasn't even funny anymore. Could not have been any more unrealistic and unauthentic. Another scene would be when she grabs her breasts during this television broadcast. Was that a feminist statement? Or also the one when they buy these horses, so they don't get killed. This scene was mostly there to show us how much Frier's character cares for and loves his daughter, which is nice and sweet, but the scenes they used to display this really all felt wrong and over the top. Such a pity. The statement that sometimes less can be more is something that absolutely applies to this film here. I wish they could have kept it more subtle. Oh yes, I already said that this is Degeto. How can I even be surprised. Another really weak inclusion here was the female protagonist's speech near the end that seemed so staged and fake and absolutely like nothing the female character with her mental capacity would have said there. And please don't tell me that this speech showed how well she understands emotions and everything going on around her. Again, a highly for-the-sake-of-it inclusion.
One thing that almost all of these films have in common is the strong anti-male component. These films are mostly for women and as the writers are rarely capable of writing strong and interesting female characters, they just unleash completely against the male character. This is also true for this film here. Just take the scene early on in which the female protagonist finds her boyfriend cheating with another girl. Disable or not doesn't even matter. It seems though he had a soft spot for them. It continues with the utter idea of attraction. I mean the two are similar, especially with their malfunctions, which may explain why they are turning into a couple, but let's be honest here. Beck is a heart-throb and even with them doing their very best here to have him not appear utterly handsome, he is still far more attractive than the lady he is attracted to. And she is pregnant with a child from another man. And there he is saying, he will take care of her, help her with the child. A dream scenario for her, also with the aforementioned difference in looks. And what does she do? Push him even further and talk about how he must fulfill some really strict requirements to be only allowed to be with her and help her with the child. Sure thing. I think I don't have to say anything else about that. It's self-explanatory. I applaud every audience member, especially every female, who sees through this mess and sees it for what it is. I must also say that I was fairly disappointed with the nature recordings here, in terms of both animals and mountains etc. At least from that perspective, it could have been an alright watch, but Degeto really once more gets it wrong. All of it. Funnily enough, one day earlier I watched an old L&O SVU episode on a similar subject and there it was done almost completely right in terms of elaborating on disabled characters ending up pregnant. Here it all went wrong. Funnily enough, on L&O, the actress was disabled.
Then it is also the small moments during which it was a weak film. I mentioned some examples already, but here's some more. The scene very early on with the two tourists who are initially fascinated by the man, but then run away from him as he gets out his axe. I do believe this could have been really funny indeed with better execution, but it all feel so shallow, so limited in terms of talent and craft that it was really an embarrassment. Oh yes, the inheritance. gain, very much for the sake of it. When was the last time you and your partner received a big inheritance within days, one or both of you became a parent etc. This is the opposite of an authentic film. In addition, the female lead performance makes it even unwatchable at times. Again, less can be more. This applies to everything involving Drexler, not just the final pep talk. Of course, the man obeys while absolutely not standing up for himself. Oh yes, I forgot about that, he is also pretty rich now. More reason to humiliate him. I don't even want to think about all the poor men whose women watched this film and, as a consequence, thought it was justified to treat their partners like that. These ladies deserve to be left. Just like the one in here. But of course she is not. She gets all she wants despite because she is such a strong dedicated female and her disability does not take anything away from that. I call all this nonsense. It is not a touching film, not a funny film, not a good character study and the worst thing is not that it isn't, the worst thing is that you could really feel how hard they were trying to be all that, but the talent was not there. Tom Beck's Bavarian accent was solid if I had to look for anything positive, but it is pretty telling that he is among the best aspects from a film because he is also pretty limited. But almost everything/everybody else here is worse. There are many other weak scenes and moments I haven't mentioned yet, such as the scientists they meet. And the dialogue writing is painful on the ears from beginning to end. That's all. Lowest rating possible from me here. Highly not recommended and it really sucks that this will be in national television for another decade, probably longer even.
