Männer wie wir (2004)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Sherry Horman

Writer:

Benedikt Gollhardt (writer)

Release Date:

7 October 2004 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Jeder gibt sein bestes Stück. (Everyone gives his best part.)

Plot Keywords:

Father Son Relationship | Motorcycle Gang | Athlete | Gynecologist | Men's Toilet

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Maximilian Brückner	...	Ecki
David Rott	...	Sven
Lisa Potthoff	...	Susanne (as Lisa Maria Potthoff)
Dietmar Bär	...	Vater Gerd
Saskia Vester	...	Mutter Renate
Judith Hoersch	...	Cordula (as Judith Delphine Hoersch)
Mirko Lang	...	Tobias
Carlo Ljubek	...	Udo
Tobias van Dieken	...	Bernhard
Hans Löw	...	Klaus
Rolf Zacher	...	Trainer Karl
Mariele Millowitsch	...	Wirtin Elke
Christian Berkel	...	Rudolf
Markus John	...	Tom
Charly Hübner	...	Horst 'Hotte'
Andreas Schmidt	...	Jürgen
Billey Demirtas	...	Ercin
Michael von Burg	...	Martin
Max Hopp	...	Steffen
Marcel Nievelstein	...	Jan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sunia-Shahana Ali	...	Krankenschwester 2
Hans-Joachim Bauer	...	BVB Fan 2
Mohammed-Ali Behboudi	...	Ercins Vater
Eric Beta	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Oskar Bläser	...	Trainer Boldrup
Nicholas Bodeux	...	Ehemann
Leon Breitenborn	...	Ecki jung 1
Daniel Careno	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
David Careno	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Edilton Pereira Da Cruz	...	Ronaldino
J. Geraldo Datovo	...	Samba Truppe
Edesson Batista De Jesus	...	Ronaldo
Judith Döker	...	Prostituierte
Daniel Edingloh	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Eileen Eilender	...	Susanne jung 1
Christian Ernst	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Thomas Fischer	...	Gay Firefighter 1
Jan Giffel	...	Udo jung
Jeanette Goetz	...	Krankenschwester 1
Marc Gößlig	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Detlev Henke	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Lutz Herdener	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Sascha Herzogenrath	...	Transvestit
Henning Heup	...	Gay Firefighter 2
Wolfgang Jansen	...	Harleyfahrer
Markus Kaiser	...	Harleyfahrer
Christoph Kanne	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Michael Kleiber	...	BVB Fan 1
Sebastian Klein	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Dirk Koch	...	Biergarten Gast 2
Anna Koesling	...	Susanne jung 2
Malte Kossleck	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Frank Krebs	...	Harleyfahrer
Ute Maria Lerner	...	Schwangere Frau
Markus Meisinger	...	FC Boldrup Fan
Miklas Melin	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Willi Meuser	...	Schiedsrichter 2
Franz-Josef Neumann	...	Harleyfahrer
Stefan Nüsser	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Christoph Paeßens	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Jan Platte	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Heppi Pohl	...	Biergarten Gast 1
Willi Schaaf	...	Fussballspieler FC Ruhrgold
Sybille J. Schedwill	...	Jans Mutter Agnes
Oli Scheel	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Dennis Schenkel	...	Harleyfahrer
Helmut Schenkel	...	Harleyfahrer
Klaus Schwen	...	Harleyfahrer
Melody Sitta	...	Cordula jung
Simon Solberg	...	Frank
Jochen Stern	...	Rentner Rudi
Frank Tepferd	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Willi Thomczyk	...	Wirt
Rolf Vogel	...	Harleyfahrer
Heiko von der Bey	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Felix Vörtler	...	Udos Vater
Martin Watson	...	Fussballspieler FC Boldrup
Heinrich Weitz	...	Schiedsrichter 1
Steven Wellmann	...	Ecki jung 2
Nikolai Will	...	Kunde in der Bäckerei

Directed by
Sherry Horman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Benedikt Gollhardt		writer

Produced by
David Groenewold	....	co-producer
Kirsten Hager	....	producer
Eric Moss	....	producer
Eva Poetsch	....	producer: RTL
Andreas Schneppe	....	producer
Peter Studhalter	....	producer: RTL

Original Music by
Martin Todsharow

Cinematography by
Hanno Lentz

Film Editing by
Magda Habernickel
Eva Schnare

Casting by
Nessie Nesslauer

Production Design by
Thomas Freudenthal

Costume Design by
Gabriele Binder

Makeup Department
Gerd Caris	....	special makeup effects artist
Fiona Franke	....	additional makeup artist
Julia Hauser	....	additional makeup artist
Frauke Horn	....	makeup artist
Sabine Muschalek	....	makeup artist
Dorle Neft	....	makeup artist
Isabell Thömmes	....	additional makeup artist (as Isabelle Thömmes)
Katja Winckelmann	....	additional makeup artist (as Katja Winkelmann)

Production Management
Julian Büchner	....	post-production supervisor
Chris Evert	....	production manager
Mark Nolting	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Nicole Penaranda Hohner	....	first assistant director
Stojan Petrov	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Maren Eich	....	props
Susanne Förster	....	graphic artist
Clarissa Gütthoff	....	property master
Martin Küster	....	props (as Martin 'Martini' Küster)
Bernd Markmann	....	construction manager
Marillo Ricken	....	property master
Ilse Töpfer	....	assistant production designer
Hans Wäckerlin	....	stand-by painter

Sound Department
Sören Blüthgen	....	foley mixer
Barbara Borgsmüller	....	foley artist
Tschangis Chahrokh	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jo Fürst	....	foley artist
Lisa Geffcken-Reinhard	....	foley editor (as Lisa Geffgen)
Magda Habernickel	....	dialogue editor
Magda Habernickel	....	sound editor
Georg Müller	....	boom operator
Pierre Peters-Arnolds	....	dubbing director
Michael Rahm	....	assistant sound mixer
Marcel Spisak	....	sound designer
Andreas Wölki	....	sound

Special Effects by
Andreas Korth	....	special effects
Volker Lorig	....	special effects
Daniel Schwerdtfeger	....	rushes calibration
Andreas Thomas	....	rushes coordinator
Manfred Turek	....	rushes coordinator

Visual Effects by
Alex Klippe	....	arri laser recordist
Michael Lanzensberger	....	Inferno artist
Lutz Lemke	....	title sequence design/animation
Steven Stueart	....	digital film scanner

Stunts
Michael Mohr	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Oliver Agojo	....	video assist operator
Stefan Biebl	....	Steadicam operator
Tilman Büttner	....	Steadicam operator
Ergun Cankaya	....	camera operator: second camera
Celio Castro	....	electrician
Alexander Damaschke	....	electrician
Sven Ebenhardt	....	grip
Simone Hartmann	....	assistant camera: second camera
Oliver Herles	....	assistant camera: second camera
Kim Høgh	....	grip (as Kim Mikkelsen)
Thomas Kost	....	still photographer
Franz-Xaver Kringer	....	assistant camera
Nils Rausch	....	electrician
Oliver Schafhausen	....	best boy electric
Matthias Scherer	....	grip
Rolf van der Heydt	....	still photographer
Grube Venn	....	camera operator: second camera
Grube Venn	....	gaffer
Christian von Spee	....	assistant camera
Jürgen Wolf	....	grip

Casting Department
Heinrich Hadding	....	casting: football players

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Andrea Bakos	....	additional wardrobe
Cordula Boy	....	additional wardrobe
Jeanette Goetz	....	wardrobe
Britta Krähe	....	costume assistant
Meiken Reissig	....	additional wardrobe
Martina Volkmann	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Christoph Hutterer	....	assistant editor
Özlem Konuk	....	assistant editor
Bianca Stumpf	....	color grader

Music Department
Martin Todsharow	....	music supervisor
Martin Todsharow	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Claudia Brede	....	script supervisor
Nathalie Cloidt	....	set runner
Christopher Doll	....	set manager
Patricia Eckermann	....	production assistant
Lothar Hellinger	....	set assistant
Sven Herrmann	....	assistant location manager
Wolfgang Hess	....	dubbing director
Monika Kleinhans	....	dubbing director
Tobi Kukla	....	location manager (as Tobias Kukla)
Mark Nolting	....	location manager
Josef Reidinger	....	technical director
Julia Rieve	....	production assistant
Franziska Von Malsen-Ponickau	....	production assistant

Production Companies

• Hager Moss Film
• Medienfonds GFP
• RTL

Distributors

• Buena Vista International (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Regent Releasing (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• here! Films (2006) (USA) (all media) (subtitled)
• Ekaterinburg Art (EA) (2006) (Russia) (all media)
• Optimale (2006) (France) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Flash Art GmbH

Other Companies

• ARRI Rental  camera equipment provided by

Also Known As:

Guys and Balls (International: English title) (USA)
Balls (USA) (pre-release title)
Lattenknaller (Germany) (working title)
Lattenknaller - Männer wie wir (Germany) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content, nudity and language.

Runtime:

Germany:106 min | USA:106 min | Australia:102 min (DVD)

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | Australia:M | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

Hager Moss Film

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ecki leaves home by bus he sits alone in the last row. When the bus overtakes a tractor the bus is shown from behind and one can see other people sitting in the last row.

Quotes:

Sven: That's not edible. It's decoration.

Soundtrack:

Morning Calls

Bend over Beckham

This moves pretty well through the various expected clichés: losing one's group identity while forging a new one, showing the group who kicked you out you're better than them, guys who cheat eventually lose, love conquers all.

Funny, too. All the usual stereotypes are presented, with the over-the-top characters being balanced by the more authentic core characters. Nice symbolic use of gold-toned lighting to highlight original innocence, once lost now returned.

The score is fun and well-paced. The ending is more Indie than expected and thus more satisfying.