Schlussmacher - Blu-Ray

Film: Matthias Schweighöfer knows what his fans like. After he could celebrate successes in recent years especially in the metier of romantic comedy not only as an actor, but also as a director with What a Man, he remains true to this recipe for success again with his second directorial effort Schlussmacher. However, this time he relies a bit more on raunchy humor than on his charm and humorous story, which detracts a bit from the entertainment value.

The story, even if it seems to be cribbed together from various films such as The Hired Lover or Hitch, is really amusing and promising: Paul Voigt (Schweighöfer) has an unusual profession: he is a professional breakup artist. Working for a Berlin breakup agency, he teaches his clients' soon-to-be exes about their desire to break up. Day after day, he watches relationships break up, which has left him extremely emotionally jaded. So it's no wonder that he can't give his girlfriend Natalie (Catherine de Léan) the closeness she craves. But Paul can't worry about his personal life right now, as he's about to become a corporate partner. In one week, Paul has to complete eleven separations, then he is certain of promotion. But then he has to tell sensitive Toto (Milan Peschel), of all people, that his girlfriend Kati (Nadja Uhl) wants to break up with him. And Toto just can't cope with that. He never leaves Paul's side and even accompanies him on his business trip across Germany. And what was supposed to be an easy road to professional success quickly turns into a horror trip for Paul, at the end of which he could find himself without a job and without a girlfriend...

Schlussmacher begins with some very amusing moments showing Paul at work. Along the way, Schweighöfer once again reveals his knack for mixing good comedic timing with appealing visuals. His second film also simply looks good and can easily keep up with many international productions with its good camera work and coherent editing. In addition, some very good actors could once again be lured in front of the camera, with Milan Peschel in particular once again proving his versatility.

So Schlussmacher definitely has what it takes to be a really good German comedy. But Schweighöfer unfortunately makes two mistakes that stand in the way of this outcome, at least for viewers who wouldn't necessarily call themselves loyal Schweighöfer fans. The first mistake is the overly rampant use of flat out zaniness that the film really didn't need. Sure, What a Man didn't necessarily excel at intellectual wit either, and some of the gags Schweighöfer makes use of in his second directorial effort do, after all, work very well. But too often the humor aims below the belt or uses completely over-the-top fat and fecal jokes to make the audience laugh. But since especially at the beginning it becomes clear that the initial idea of the story offers the potential for much better gags, which is then almost completely given away, it's just a pity. Then also the high sympathy value of the actors helps only little to iron out this shortcoming.

The second disturbing factor is the lack of any subtlety. This is especially evident in the far too intrusive use of the film's score, a bad habit Schweighöfer seems to have picked up from his colleague Til Schweiger. Whereas in What a Man he showed more restraint in this respect, in Schlussmacher he goes all out. In some scenes it seems as if the actors are screaming against the music, which in turn gives the impression that the audience should be made aware of the gag shown in this scene. Yet, some restraint would have been good for the movie, especially in such moments. Because even if the laughs then turn out a little quieter, so in the end remains a much more positive impression than when the humor is presented virtually with a sledgehammer.

No question, for fans of Matthias Schweighöfer Schlussmacher is a lot of fun - well over 2 million box office speak a very clear language. This is also due to the fact that the actor tries to be as close as possible to his audience through various fan events or social networks and thus also find out what his audience wants to see. And that's what he delivers again with his second film, with a few cutbacks. But even if the comedy can fully satisfy its target audience, in the end the feeling remains that Schweighöfer has sold his talent, which he has impressively demonstrated several times in the past, here more or less below value. At least: for Hessian fans of the actor there are again some nice shots of Frankfurt and a really delicious guest appearance of Badesalz to see. And for that alone, despite the weaknesses, there is a satisfied: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the Blu-Ray is very clean and also pleases with a high image sharpness, through which even smaller details in most scenes are very well accentuated. The colour scheme is slightly alienated but captures the atmosphere of the comedy very well with warm tones throughout and their powerful delivery. The audio, as is usual with this genre, is dominated primarily by the dialogue and the occasionally a little too intrusive soundtrack, but here and there there are a few well-used ambient sounds or sound effects that also challenge the surround channels. Good!

Extras: The Blu-ray offers a really worth seeing additional program. Starting off with 11 filming diaries (approx. 21 mins), this is a very entertaining look at the filming process. The renewed cooperation with many team members from What a Man, the shooting in Frankfurt, Brandenburg and at the Edertalsperre, the extras recruited via Facebook and of course the small guest appearance of Badesalz are the focus of the short clips. Short glimpses of the film premieres in Berlin (approx. 1:52 min.) and in the CineStar Metropolis Frankfurt (approx. 1:29 min.), where the Frankfurt fans impressively demonstrate their volume, are also on the program.

Continue with an extra that shows very well how well Matthias Schweighöfer understands how to bind his fans to him. In Schlussmacher - Die Show (approx. 18 min.) he presented some scenes from the film to a mainly female audience and presented himself as a charming and shrewd entertainer in the breaks between the clips, of which you can now also convince yourself on this Blu-Ray. But that's not all: besides a music video by Blue (approx. 4:11 min.) and some funny outtakes (approx. 4:38 min.) there is also a standard making of (approx. 11 min.), three promo clips of just under 4 minutes each, a storyboard gallery (approx. 2 min.), as well as the trailer and teaser for the film. The name Fan Edition is absolutely justified due to these extras!

Conclusion: Schlussmacher is not quite as charming as What a Man, as Schweighöfer relies much more on zaniness and little subtle humor here. Still, the whole thing works very well, especially for its target audience. More than 2 million moviegoers speak for themselves. The Blu-Ray presents the film in good picture and sound quality and also offers the fan some amusing and worth seeing extras. Who liked the film already in the cinema, comes to this disc not past!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp