"Zum Kuckuck mit der Liebe" is a German television film from 2012, so this one will soon have its 10th anniversary. The director is Hajo Gies, who could be known to my fellow German film buffs because he really enjjoyed a long and prolific time in the industry, even if certainly there are some projects in his body of work that you cannot really be proud of. But also some okay stuff. He is retired now, this was one of his final career efforts. The writer Thomas Oliver Walendy, however, has mostly worked on weak films in the past. So the outcome here is pretty much expected. The cast from this 90-minute movie is definitely above-average for a small screen release. Heerwagen I certainly did not expect and Kremp as well as von Bülow and Grossmann were nice inclusions too. But there is also the other end of the scale. Seeing Russek's turn here I genuinely wonder what I saw in Wilsberg back when I watched it regularly. She is really not good. Who is even worse is Elena Uhlig and I cannot say anything positive about her whatsoever here, only maybe that she is slightly better-looking than in other films I have seen her in. However, her performance is as horrible as always and she does not have 10% of the range needed to make the character work and instead she manages the almost impossible, namely to make an already very poorly written character seem even worse with her overacting. The best example is already early on when we find out she is not the one to give the speech and when she starts complaining and we see her jealousy, it is just unbearable to take. This choice by Russek's character is also something that shows her as some matriarch character, but there were 3 different face expressions max from Russek, so she also does not have the range to pull it off. I found the character also very unlikable as a consequence and I think this was not intended by the writers. Uhlig's was supposed to be the only antagonist and even there they messed up as her story was almost over halfway into the film. And then there is also Rüdiger Vogler. Back in the day, he was in the lead in several Wim Wenders' movies and it is definitely pretty sad to see that now in the 21st century, these films are what he is going for because I have seen him in other movies like this too (quality-wise or "lack of quality"-wise I should say) and in this one here, he also has literally nothing to work with except this stupid romance story line. His role as an adviser to the protagonist adds nothing and it would not have hurt the film at all had they excluded this character.
Now as for the story, we have a woman struggling with life and she is picked to hold an important speech and I must say the way how they really use only this here as the general premise felt shoddy and insufficient. Like when she decides take part in a weekend speech training course. Same is true about the cuckoo clock references. At the end, they get a bit more frequent because of von Bülow's character, but it never feels enough to justify this title, let alone the background story with the ancestor's dream. It does feel pretentious and they act as if this is so significant, but it never really feels that way. Or all the momints involving Uhlig and her (ordered) surveillance of Heerwagen's character. It was just embarrassing when we see a handy or something when the protagonist and the teacher hug it out on one occasion. Or when von Bülow's character punches the teacher later on and Heerwagen's likes it and is almost turned on by her man finally stepping up for her. I mean it was slightly funny also how Vogler's character indicated in a way that the teacher should act as if he collapsed from the punch. But it was really all for entertainment purposes and it did not feel like an authentic part of the story and it was very clear the filmmakers here saw it as such. So this film is definitely a mess overall. Props to the better actors who almost managed to elevate it from being a horrible film to just a weak film, but in the end, the script was just too messed up to make it work and probably not even Hollywood's finest could have succeeded. The two more dramatic scenes on the roof with first the teacher, then the girl being suicidal were pretty embarrassing, also with the firefighters being all set and ready on the first occasion down there came out of nowhere. And keep in mind that neither of the two really tried to get psychological help afterwards. This is almost insulting to people actually suffering from depression how they are indirectly represented in this film. And the negative icing on the cake is also towards the end that they messed up the speech story with how all of a sudden lots of wind shows up and blows away the sheet. And of course, there is also the obligatory happy ending here. The fact that all of a sudden their romantic relationship means nothing to the protagonist and (especially) the teacher is just impossible to accept from a realistic perspective. They are just throwing facts at us without properly elaborating on these. Then again, this was also a mess early on too with the way how the two ended up in bed together and the reason that they were both struggling in life was an explanation as weak as it gets. It just did not fit. Also Heerwagen's character's behavior during the course felt extremely scripted and unauthentic with all we found out about the character before that. I am mostly referring to the confrontation scene when she gets angry and insults the teacher. I could write at least another two paragraphs on why this film is not a success by any definition. But if you really decide to watch it, you will recognize the flas yourself immediately. My suggestion is you don't. Highly not recommended. The somewhat solid moments are 15%, the bad moments are 85%.
Now as for the story, we have a woman struggling with life and she is picked to hold an important speech and I must say the way how they really use only this here as the general premise felt shoddy and insufficient. Like when she decides take part in a weekend speech training course. Same is true about the cuckoo clock references. At the end, they get a bit more frequent because of von Bülow's character, but it never feels enough to justify this title, let alone the background story with the ancestor's dream. It does feel pretentious and they act as if this is so significant, but it never really feels that way. Or all the momints involving Uhlig and her (ordered) surveillance of Heerwagen's character. It was just embarrassing when we see a handy or something when the protagonist and the teacher hug it out on one occasion. Or when von Bülow's character punches the teacher later on and Heerwagen's likes it and is almost turned on by her man finally stepping up for her. I mean it was slightly funny also how Vogler's character indicated in a way that the teacher should act as if he collapsed from the punch. But it was really all for entertainment purposes and it did not feel like an authentic part of the story and it was very clear the filmmakers here saw it as such. So this film is definitely a mess overall. Props to the better actors who almost managed to elevate it from being a horrible film to just a weak film, but in the end, the script was just too messed up to make it work and probably not even Hollywood's finest could have succeeded. The two more dramatic scenes on the roof with first the teacher, then the girl being suicidal were pretty embarrassing, also with the firefighters being all set and ready on the first occasion down there came out of nowhere. And keep in mind that neither of the two really tried to get psychological help afterwards. This is almost insulting to people actually suffering from depression how they are indirectly represented in this film. And the negative icing on the cake is also towards the end that they messed up the speech story with how all of a sudden lots of wind shows up and blows away the sheet. And of course, there is also the obligatory happy ending here. The fact that all of a sudden their romantic relationship means nothing to the protagonist and (especially) the teacher is just impossible to accept from a realistic perspective. They are just throwing facts at us without properly elaborating on these. Then again, this was also a mess early on too with the way how the two ended up in bed together and the reason that they were both struggling in life was an explanation as weak as it gets. It just did not fit. Also Heerwagen's character's behavior during the course felt extremely scripted and unauthentic with all we found out about the character before that. I am mostly referring to the confrontation scene when she gets angry and insults the teacher. I could write at least another two paragraphs on why this film is not a success by any definition. But if you really decide to watch it, you will recognize the flas yourself immediately. My suggestion is you don't. Highly not recommended. The somewhat solid moments are 15%, the bad moments are 85%.