"Ellas Baby" is a German television film from 2017, so this one has its third anniversary this year. It runs for minimally under 1.5 hours and was directed by David Dietl, a German filmmaker born in America and he is of course the son of Helmut Dietl. I watched the younger Dietl's Olli Dittrich film back then when it was new and this one here is the movie he made afterwards. Certainly a drop in quality sadly, but I'll get to that later. A slight implication is included in the title of my review already. This may also have to do with the fact that writer Elena Senft was almost a rookie when she was in charge of the screenplay here. There are definitely flaws with the screenplay. Senft and Dietl by the way were both born in 1979, so in their late 30s when they worked on this film we have here, but Dietl was definitely the more experienced from the duo. As for the cast, it is certainly better than you usually get for a film made for television, especially when the not artistic at all Theaterkunst was involved with the production. Admittedly those films usually turn out even way worse than this one here, so I could also be kinda glad that it is just a weak film and not a terrible one. Anyway, as for the cast, you can check out the list yourself, but I will still give you the names of some of the key players. Benno Fürmann is the guy you see on the photo and he has been really among the more, if not most, known male actors from my country for decades now. Generally, I think he is nowhere near as good as he is famous, but I was kinda pleasantly surprised by the outcome here. I think there is always a bit of an aura of danger and violent to him and he could maybe play solid villains, but his role here is the exact opposite. He is a loving, yet determined father, and husband or partner whatever. The only moment we kinda find out about how his character is a bit on the gruff side is when he literally pushes his daughter into having an abortion. Oh wait, another moment could also be when he is surprised that the girl spoke to his father and not to him about a crucial issue. The grown-up female lead here is played by Katharina Schüttler. I think she did fine with her story most of the time as long as it did not move to the center of the movie, then it got a bit weaker with her romance relationship and desire to get pregnant. Tijan Marei plays the pregnant girl here and I thhink this actress could have a solid future ahead of her. Shhe seems fairly talented, looks are there as well and she reminded me a bit of Emilia Schüle physically. But given the fact that she is at least as much of a lead as Fürmann and has totally a lot of screen time, I felt she carried the movie nicely and every time the action moves a bit away from her character, the film got worse. Luckily, almost always, it returned quickly. The grandfather is played by Peter Franke, another really established actor. Not too much to say about his character, he's wise and caring. And my felllow Stromberg fans will also get a familiar face eventually in Milena Dreißig, but her character added almost nothing unfortunately, but was just there here and there.
Okay, I already implied more than once that I liked the key plot here. It as nothing entirely new as a relatively young girl gets pregnant and goes through the struggles, the physical ones (even mentioned verbally on one occasions) and the emotional ones. Early on, she wants an abortion, then she thinks about adoption and in the end it seems as if she will probably keep the baby. The road between these decisions was maybe the most interesting the film had to offer. I also think they did an okay job overall with keeping it light despite these life-changing events taking place. I found it a bit funny how they elaborated on Pierre for example and the name and how many people have it when they realize it was not even his real name. Or the idea early on with the two girls checking for pregnancy in the very first scene I think was okay too and indeed as they say, differing test results may not be the best case scenario. Still i was a bit surprised that the best friend (and they must have been close if they do stuff like that) almost vanishes completely for the movie. If we exclude the family (and Schüttler's character), then the female protagonist shares the most scenes with the guy who really likes her. She has no feelings, at least not initially because he is a bit of a weirdo, but the moment he is ready to care for her and her baby and pretends to be the dad kinda impresses her. I cannot say it impressed me. This was not good. What was even worse and less funny were the references to how he introduces himself linked to drugs. Not handled well at all. As for another supporting character: Franke plays the grandfather. Very stereotypical honestly and added nothing for me and the reference to his death and how he may (or may not) be forgotten felt really constructed and not authentic at all. Pity. Drama for the sake of drama, but not telling a good (or even touching) story. Schüttler plays the biggest supporting character you could say. The road to being accepted by Ella is a long one, but it did feel a bit bumpy, even if admittedly the final moment when she wants her to come with her as she is about to give birth was kinda nice. However, everything leading there was not handled in a very talented way. So yeah, they wanted more (meaningful) emotions from the audience in the end from several perspectives, but sadly they did not deliver the class needed to bring us there. As for Schüttler, this also includes her potential pregancy struggles. I mean of course she is desperate, but when she talked about her baby and she is not even pregnant it felt ridiculous and not in a good way. Also how the two grown-up protagonists have apparently broken up camme completely out of nowhere. I did not even have my head wrapped around this bizarre pseudo dramatic idea when they were already together again and had their reunion. This absolutely should have been left out. Far too much unrealistic drama in the end. The old man was already more than enough. Fürmann's character was also not really written in a good way. When he drinks that bottle and the following trip to the bridge felt as off as the running gag with him in the car trying to make his licence. And how even a dog gets killed on the way. I mean the boy has to take it and says even that the doog was old already etc. When he has a right to be really mad, but I guess if he wants the young woman's heart, he just has to take the humiliation constantly no? Also how he was on the balkon when they were talking about the pregnancy early on may have been a bit too coincidence, especially with how it developed into the cringeworthy fake father scene and how the boy talks like a poet. Just did not fit at all. Back to the driving test, Stephan Grossmann is there, but well he was kinda wasted. Definitely a better actor than he can show us here. Also how he all of a sudden knows Fürmann's character (small world, isn't it) and how they almost crash into another guy during the test was more lack of realism this film had to offer. I just cannot give it a positive recommendation. Like I said, the key story and exploration are alright. But everything else is between weak and failure territory. Pity as this film will probably be on national television for at least another decade. The pretty decent cast here (even Fürmann) cannot make up for the story flaws and failed attempts at comedy. Watch something else instead.
Okay, I already implied more than once that I liked the key plot here. It as nothing entirely new as a relatively young girl gets pregnant and goes through the struggles, the physical ones (even mentioned verbally on one occasions) and the emotional ones. Early on, she wants an abortion, then she thinks about adoption and in the end it seems as if she will probably keep the baby. The road between these decisions was maybe the most interesting the film had to offer. I also think they did an okay job overall with keeping it light despite these life-changing events taking place. I found it a bit funny how they elaborated on Pierre for example and the name and how many people have it when they realize it was not even his real name. Or the idea early on with the two girls checking for pregnancy in the very first scene I think was okay too and indeed as they say, differing test results may not be the best case scenario. Still i was a bit surprised that the best friend (and they must have been close if they do stuff like that) almost vanishes completely for the movie. If we exclude the family (and Schüttler's character), then the female protagonist shares the most scenes with the guy who really likes her. She has no feelings, at least not initially because he is a bit of a weirdo, but the moment he is ready to care for her and her baby and pretends to be the dad kinda impresses her. I cannot say it impressed me. This was not good. What was even worse and less funny were the references to how he introduces himself linked to drugs. Not handled well at all. As for another supporting character: Franke plays the grandfather. Very stereotypical honestly and added nothing for me and the reference to his death and how he may (or may not) be forgotten felt really constructed and not authentic at all. Pity. Drama for the sake of drama, but not telling a good (or even touching) story. Schüttler plays the biggest supporting character you could say. The road to being accepted by Ella is a long one, but it did feel a bit bumpy, even if admittedly the final moment when she wants her to come with her as she is about to give birth was kinda nice. However, everything leading there was not handled in a very talented way. So yeah, they wanted more (meaningful) emotions from the audience in the end from several perspectives, but sadly they did not deliver the class needed to bring us there. As for Schüttler, this also includes her potential pregancy struggles. I mean of course she is desperate, but when she talked about her baby and she is not even pregnant it felt ridiculous and not in a good way. Also how the two grown-up protagonists have apparently broken up camme completely out of nowhere. I did not even have my head wrapped around this bizarre pseudo dramatic idea when they were already together again and had their reunion. This absolutely should have been left out. Far too much unrealistic drama in the end. The old man was already more than enough. Fürmann's character was also not really written in a good way. When he drinks that bottle and the following trip to the bridge felt as off as the running gag with him in the car trying to make his licence. And how even a dog gets killed on the way. I mean the boy has to take it and says even that the doog was old already etc. When he has a right to be really mad, but I guess if he wants the young woman's heart, he just has to take the humiliation constantly no? Also how he was on the balkon when they were talking about the pregnancy early on may have been a bit too coincidence, especially with how it developed into the cringeworthy fake father scene and how the boy talks like a poet. Just did not fit at all. Back to the driving test, Stephan Grossmann is there, but well he was kinda wasted. Definitely a better actor than he can show us here. Also how he all of a sudden knows Fürmann's character (small world, isn't it) and how they almost crash into another guy during the test was more lack of realism this film had to offer. I just cannot give it a positive recommendation. Like I said, the key story and exploration are alright. But everything else is between weak and failure territory. Pity as this film will probably be on national television for at least another decade. The pretty decent cast here (even Fürmann) cannot make up for the story flaws and failed attempts at comedy. Watch something else instead.
