Tim Sander goes to Hollywood - DVD

Film: Once Tim Sander was the big teen star, hung as a GZSZ actor on countless room walls, was acclaimed and awarded with prizes like the BRAVO-Otto. But those days are over. Although Sander can be seen again and again in smaller and larger TV productions, the really big success is missing at the moment. His buddy Matthias Schweighöfer, whom Sander met on the set of the film Die Klasse von 99, is a completely different story. Schweighöfer has long since risen to become a movie star, who has already had the opportunity to play alongside Tom Cruise and recently even made a very successful debut as a director. As good friends as the two are, Sander is a little miffed by Schweighöfer's success. And so, during a visit to the cinema together, he is tempted to make a bet: if he manages to land a role in a Hollywood production within a month, then Tim Sander can also take on a part in Schweighöfer's next directorial effort.

In a ten-part web series, fans were able to witness how Sander makes his way to Hollywood, where he meets insiders such as Ralf Möller, trash director Uwe Boll, actress Julia Dietze or filmmaker Henry Jaglam and tries to win his bet with their help. The material of the web series has now been expanded by quite a few scenes and edited together to the amusing docu-comedy Tim Sander goes to Hollywood, which has now been released on DVD.

Spiced with plenty of self-irony, a musical number and re-enacted scenes, Sander's desperate attempt to make important contacts in the dream factory, to get tips from insiders or not to sound too German at castings, proves to be very amusing and entertaining. It's true that the humor doesn't always work, and sometimes seems a little too concerned with coolness. Nevertheless, the whole project has a likeable charm, which is enriched with obvious love for filmmaking and thus makes this docu-comedy especially for film lovers a real pleasure.

Whether Tim Sander wins his bet in the end and can get a role in Hollywood, should not be revealed at this point, of course. Only so much perhaps: what the German actor experiences in the USA, takes sometimes quite bizarre features and scratches thereby strongly at the myth Hollywood, without disenchanting the dream factory completely. Therefore, despite some weaknesses and rather flat gags, there is in the end a more than deserved: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The technical implementation of the film can be described as successful. The image is very clean, the image sharpness is in most moments on a good level, only in faster camera pans there is a slight dragging effect and the detail representation has small shortcomings in darker scenes. The audio is good, though only the musical interludes and minor sound effects provide a bit of dynamics to the otherwise directionally mixed proceedings. Good!

Extras: In addition to all episodes of the web series, the DVD has more bonus material to offer. So there are still four cut scenes, two music videos, the trailer for the film, as well as the completely crazy short film Mad Eagle (about 3 min.) to see. Good!

Conclusion: Tim Sander goes to Hollywood is an amusing docu-comedy, which reveals an entertaining and sometimes surprisingly revealing look behind the scenes of the film business with a heavy dose of self-irony. Despite minor hangs and some rather weak moments, a successful fun that could please not only fans of Tim Sander. The good technical realization and the decent bonus material are an additional incentive to buy. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp