Soloalbum (2003)

Simply Perfect

How sad is this?

Admirable film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

"Soloalbum" is a German 85-minute film from 2003, so this one will have its 15th anniversary next year. It was written by Jens-Frederik Otto and directed by Gregor Schnitzler, but don't worry if these names mean nothing to as even if they admittedly worked on several other projects well known here in Germany, only the very biggest German film buffs might recognize them. This film here is far more known because it was the breakthrough film on the big screen for lead actor Matthias Schweighöfer and Nora Tschirner, who is somewhere in the gray area between lead and supporting here. Both were in their early 20s at that point. The book this is based on is a novel by Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, who was kind of the next big thing back then.Story-wise, the film focuses on a young man and how he deals with breaking up with his girlfriend. We see a couple rules/intentions written on the screen that are supposed to help him or make him feel better and then we see what happens when he tries to follow these guidelines, but it all goes wrong of course. And it goes wrong in a way that was supposed to be funny and entertaining, but I found it so horribly unfunny and try-hard that I almost had to look away. The fact that Schweighöfer was as untalented back then already as he still is today isn't helping either. Cringeworthy stuff here and the most embarrassing parts were probably the ones in bed with some female strangers and sex scenes are always a toughie admittedly, especially when included for comedic reasons, but when everybody is so void of talent as here, it's just a huge failure really.I will admit that the film started okay. Nothing good or even great, but at least bearable, but in the second half things got way worse. It probably hit rock-bottom when there was that scene where Oliver Bierhoff and Britney Spears are mentioned. I won't go any more into detail about that one as I wanna forget it as fast as possible. Oh yeah and then there is the happy ending of course that feels as unrealistic, if not more, than the rest of it all. What do we learn from this? Schweighöfer sucked for 15 years now and still plays lead characters in really bad films where it feels virtually impossible to decide if the script or M.S. sucked more. The good thing is the film stays under the 90-minute mark comfortably. Another good thing is that Tschirner managed a decent career with some strong films and performances thanks to her success here. But as for the movie itself, it says it all that mediocre cameos by musicians like Thomas D. or No Angel Sandy managed to elevate the material. I have not read the novel by BvSB, so no idea if the problem lies there or in the adaptation, but let me tell you the problem is huge. It's a film that tries to be funny and realistic/relevant at the same time and like many other Schweighöfer films is manipulative enough to trick many (the simple-minded) into believing this is actually authentic story-telling. It's the exact opposite. One of 2003's worst. Don't watch.

To make it short...it´s boring. If you have seen german romantic comedy tales before, you already know that one. The characters are stereotype and the story trivial.Granted, the film has two or three funny moments, but they can´t compensate for the weakness of this movie.2 of 10 Points (and thats generous of me, because I like Nora Tschirner)

I'm not a big fan of German movies at all, so I didn't expect too much from this flick, when my girlfriend talked me into renting it. However, "Soloalbum" turned out to be an entertaining little comedy/romance with a well chosen cast and witty dialogue. One couldn't overlook that the model for this movie was another, much better movie/book named "High Fidelity". Ben, the main character, has two friends, just like Rob in Hornby's book, his flat bares some similarities to John Cusack's in "Hi-Fi" and like Rob Ben thinks about calling five of his ex-girlfriends at some point of the story. One dialogue was almost a complete rip-off of the scene in "High Fidelity", where John Cusack asks Jack Black, what he would say, if he told him, he hadn't seen "Evil Dead 2", "yet". Another thing that I didn't like about the movie was the lack of good songs. A story about a music journalist with love troubles should have a good soundtrack. Apart from Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue" the movie only contained throw-away pop songs, which is a shame. Thankfully, "Soloalbum" is still charming enough to make for a pleasant viewing. "High Fidelity" is still king, though.

What I heard about this film, is that it is pretty bad, one critic even wrote that it will harm German cinema just as much as the book harmed German literature. Well, don't ask me why I went to see it in spite of this but I did.The result is - surprise, surprise - not as bad as I believed. The movie is funnier than most other modern German comedies... well, funny is not a correct word: there's a scene, and you find it utterly stupid but nevertheless you can't help laughing. Also the movie is quite short, so there is no time to get bored. And: Nora Tschirner is really very cute.Still, after watching this movie, I am not interested in any of Stuckrad-Barre's so-called pop books any more (because I finally know what this word means). They seem to be somewhat exhausting to read, and on the whole, the story isn't worth it.So, I wasn't completely right regarding my prejudices. 6 out of 10.