Filme Friday - Schlussmacher

Since Valentine's Day is next weekend, what better time for a romantic comedy Filme Friday?  This month's movie is "Schlussmacher", which roughly translates to "The Break-up Man."  I wasn't sure what to expect and was hesitant to watch because the poster on IMDb looked to have more romance and drama than comedy.  It turned out to be a lot like American romantic comedies, with a little bit of a "The Hangover" feel to it.  Another lesson in not judging a book by its cover!

The bottom poster works a lot better
(Source: [top] IMDb, [bottom] ontab.tv)

The main character, Paul (the handsome blonde on the posters) works for a company that specializes in ending relationships.  Paul's job is to break the new to people that their significant other is dumping them.  He remains professional and does what he can to give them their "happy end."  He's great at what he does, though it's clearly affecting his personal life.  He can't fully commit to a relationship, which causes the woman he's seeing to doubt whether they should be together.  His own romantic relationship is put on the backburner for most of the movie though as he deals with his latest client.

Paul and his "girlfriend", not as perfect as they seem (source: www.listal.com)

Paul is faced with his most important job yet.  If he is successful, he will get a huge promotion and become a partner in the company.  After he thinks this job is finished, things start falling apart.  His girlfriend says she's not happy with the way things are, and he realizes that Toto, the man who was his latest break-up victim, is a little crazy.  Trying to smooth things over, Paul gives Toto a ride, and loses his drivers license in the process.  Not wanting to tell his boss, and not having anyone else to turn to, Paul uses Toto as a way of getting around.  He's faced with trying to protect, control, and console Toto, and ends up lying to him a lot.  The two men have many misadventures, many of which are hilarious.  Of course, as is the case with movies like this, they learn some sort of lesson along the way.

Not being able to sleep alone: one of Toto's many quirks (source: meetup.com)

The movie is more of a lighthearted comedy than anything else.  It's fun to watch and not a chick-flick, despite being a romantic comedy.  There is violence, profanity, and sex in the movie, so it's at least a PG-13 rating, if not higher.  Parental discretion advised.  I watched without subtitles, but there are definitely versions with subtitles out there.  You don't need to be fluent in German to follow the story, but you might miss a few jokes without a translation.  It's a great date movie or one to watch alone for a few laughs.

(source: www.thimfilm.at)