Schwere Jungs (2006) Online

This is no "Wer früher stirbt, ist länger tot", director Rosenmüller's last and very prominent work. "Schwere Jungs" is visibly a low-budget production driven by excellent character work. It's strength lies in the actors and the quaint fifties setting of upper Bavaria. If there are flaws, then they stem from the attempt to cram some 6 or so sub-plots into a movie already laden with storyline. To keep it all together, Rosenmüller had to invent cross-connections between characters and motivations that strain credibility. Another minus are the fake Bavarian accents some of the actors come up with. It's good to have quality talent on-screen, but couldn't they have found some native Bavarians?

Winter Olimpics of 1952 was the first international event in which Germany participated after the World War II. It was a great opportunity to symbolically restore the friendly relations between Germany and other nations. However, the emissaries of this consent were the bobsleigh teams formed of men who hated one another from early childhood, had very bad manners and certain family problems that they happened to bring along.

Though the first half of the movie is slightly boring, from the point when our heroes arrive at Oslo the real comedy starts with a variety of misunderstandings and embarrassing situations.

It's probably not a very faithful representation of how the real events looked like, but it's really enjoyable to watch the plot with some crazy twists and turns to be built on a real story. There is of course a message in the movie. It's not exactly about friendship, but definitely showing the value of agreeing to do something together against the odds for some greater cause.

And for sure I have never before and never after laughed so hard during an epilogue.

"Schwere Jungs" or "Heavyweights" is a German 90-minute movie from 2006, so this one had its 10th anniversary last year. The director is Bavarian filmmaker Marcus H. Rosenmüller, but the script comes from somebody else this time (Philipp Roth). For Rosenmüller, it was his second full feature film after the very successful "Wer früher stirbt,...". Sadly I must say I am not a great fan of the latter and this one we have here did not convince me either of Rosenmüller's talent. Maybe he just isn't my preferred choice in terms of story-telling and style. There is a historic real life reference in here as the film is about the 1952 Winter Olympics and a German team of bobsledders who want to win the Gold medal or any medal at all. I personally must say, from these 1,5 hours I cannot really agree on the idea that these people need a film made about them, at least not in the way it is depicted here. Of course, a whole lot (including names) is fiction in here and this also applies to many of the core conflicts between characters in this one. There is a lot added for dramatic purposes I am sure. But it still did not feel interesting to me.

The cast includes a handful actors that German film buffs may recognize, such as Schwarz or Monot, certainly Pastewka (with his memorable presence) and Krause (a personal favorite). Maybe some even recognize lead actor Bezzel or Potthoff or any of the others. But if you don't, then it is also not a problem at all as this film lives or does not live) through its story rather than through individual performances. But as I already stated earlier in my review, I don't think it was that good of a watch and while there are many sports events in German movies that deserve their story made into a movie, I was never convinced that this one here does. And the performances also felt very interchangeable honest and not like they would elevate the material in any way. That's why I give it a thumbs-down and I hope I will see a more convincing Rosenmüller film at some point in the next years.