Vaterfreuden (2014)

Felix enjoys his single life to the fullest, but a ferret bites him, sterilizing him in the process. He tries everything in his power to find the soon-to-be mother of his only child, the result of his first and last sperm donation.

Directors:

Matthias Schweighöfer, Torsten Künstler (co-director)

Writers:

Sebastian Wehlings, Christian Lyra

Stars:

Matthias Schweighöfer, Isabell Polak, Friedrich Mücke

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthias Schweighöfer	...	Felix
Isabell Polak	...	Maren
Friedrich Mücke	...	Henne
Tom Beck	...	Ralph
Natalia Belitski	...	Jessie
Lina Hüesker	...	Leonie
Moritz Grove	...	Tom
Alexander Khuon	...	Norbert
Fiona Neumeier	...	Maja
Katharina Schüttler	...	Betti
Luise Bähr	...	Sybille
Tim Sander	...	Frederic Sattelmeyer
Detlev Buck	...	Dr. Parisius
Susan Hoecke	...	Kara
Margarita Broich	...	Dr. Metzler

Storyline

Felix (MATTHIAS SCHWEIGHÖFER) is very much enjoying his bachelor lifestyle and feels perfectly happy without a family and children - until his annoying brother Henne (FRIEDRICH MÜCKE) and his honey-loving ferret Karsten move in with Felix. At least Henne divulges his high paying income as a semen donor. Felix follows Henne's lead and his money problems are momentarily solved. During a wild one night stand, Karsten makes an appearance and clamps his teeth down below Felix's belt: From now on, he is sterile. Felix didn't imagine his life without a wife and kids could be this final. Determined, he sets out to find the recipient of his valuable genetic material. After Henne steals his file, Felix is impressed by what he finds: famous sports anchorwoman Maren (ISABELL POLAK) will be the mother of his only child. The problem is that she is about to marry Ralph (TOM BECK). But Felix isn't willing to throw away his only chance at having a family and goes to great lengths to get to know Maren.

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Plot Keywords:

traumatic experience | crazy brother | tv reporter | bare chested male | munich | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Germany]

Country:

Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

6 February 2014 (Germany)

Also Known As:

Apai örömök

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€5,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Pantaleon Films, Wiedemann & Berg Filmproduktion

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Tightrope
Performed by Walk the Moon

User Reviews

Attractive boy gets attractive girl, roll credits

The premise of the movie: Matthias Schweighöfer is a cute guy, and somehow people are willing to pay cold cash to see a movie where he gets his girl. Here, he has donated at a sperm bank to earn a bit of cash, then he decides that he wants to meet the future biological mother who has, ahem, difficult to put this in a civilised manner, profited from his donation. Of course, she's an attractive, high-powered TV anchorwoman who falls for the charming slacker (wonderful contrast between a modern working girl and a male airhead here, which allows women watching this to emphazise with the female character and feel good about themselves) when she sees, in several stomach-curdling scenes, that he's good with kids and that. At this point we find out that our hero has had a traumatic past, which is dutifully resolved for the closing scene.

This was my first movie with Schweighöfer, who is kind of a younger version of Til Schweiger. I promise to stay clear of his movies so that you won't have to read any more nasty slatings, OK darlings? The movie is set in Munich, and if you're vaguely familiar with the city it's funny to note how incongruently the locations are strung together (e. g. a supposedly short bicycle ride starts in the north of the city, then we're suddenly in the south, then in the north again). That's not a negative, I'm just observing. Some of the supporting actors, such as the male lead's brother Ralph (Tom Beck) are quite good and have memorable lines ("He's not the right guy for her." -- "What?" -- "Have you noticed how his earlobes are attached to his head?" -- "And?" -- "He's a marked man, I'll say no more") and offer some relief from Schweighöfer. The camera-work is far too slick for my taste, there is always a spotlight aimed at the hairdos even when the scene takes place at night in Antactica, and the images have been Photoshopped.

Usually I'd say five out of ten. But I suspect my girlfriend fancies Schweighöfer. So I say four out of ten.