Man does what man can

Paul Schuberth (Wotan Wilke Möhring) is professionally successful, lives in a smart loft, drives an expensive car and enjoys himself with nice regularity with attractive women in bed. But a steady relationship is out of the question for the single man of conviction. He even doesn't want to commit himself to a pet, which is why he only has enough for an occasional dog sitter from the animal shelter. But it's there that Paul really falls in love for the first time, including butterflies in his stomach and an acute loss of speech. Too bad that his chosen one, veterinarian Iris Jasper (Jasmin Gerat), is already engaged to be married in a few days. And as if that wasn't bad enough, he also has to deal with the problems of his busy colleague Schamski (Jan Josef Liefers), his buddy Günther (Oliver Korritke), who suffers from being a permanent singer, and his chauffeur Bronko (Fahri Yardim). Lots of emotional chaos, but Mann tut eben, was Mann kann...

With Mann tut was Mann kann director Marc Rothemund (Sophie Scholl, Groupies bleiben nicht zum Frühstück) delivers a rather unsurprising, but quite amusing romantic comedy, which can entertain with some nice gags and plays again and again with common clichés of the genre. These are either developed into little running gags, like the slow motion shots accompanied by schmaltzy music, when the protagonist's gaze falls on the woman of his dreams. Or they are exaggerated to such an extent that they can almost be seen as ironic. Thus, even scenes that actually present quite stale jokes are still quite amusing in the end.

This, however, is also thanks to the good-humored actors. Jan Josef Liefers and Oliver Korritke in particular steal the show from their colleagues time and again. Liefers is simply wonderful as a chauvie with constantly burning loins. His lines and the way he delivers them as Schamski are undoubtedly some of the funniest moments in the film. Korritke is the exact opposite of Schamski as the shy Günther. His cramped attempts to win the heart of waitress Iggiy (Karoline Schuch), while comical, are also genuinely heartfelt, making Günther an extremely likable character despite his complete goofiness.

Fahri Yardim plays arguably the most overdrawn character in the film. His Bronko, a failed artist and not particularly capable driver who is also only partially comfortable dealing with animals, is a bit silly here and there, but still likeable. The fact that the main characters played by Wotan Wilke Möhring and Jasmin Gerat remain somewhat pale next to this is not due to their acting performances, but simply because the secondary characters are already drawn more amusing and interesting in the script.

Mann tut was Mann kann is truly not great art cinema, but definitely plays in a league with the successful Til Schweiger or Matthias Schweighöfer films of the last two years. And after fans of German comedies have been tormented in recent months with such machinations as Frisch gepresst or Unter Frauen, Marc Rothemund's romantic romp is a qualitatively pleasantly large step forward. And for that there is also a: Worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp