"Arzt mit Nebenwirkung", which means "doctor with side effects", is a German television film from 2017, so still under five years old and relatively recent. Pretty weak title if you ask me and said title combined with the picture here on imdb and some other aspects makes it inevitably clear that this is a terrible movie. I will elaborate on why this is the case later on. First, some of the basics: The alternate title here is "Wenn ein Wunder geschieht", which means "When a miracle takes place", and as bad as the actual title may be, this alternate title is even ten times worse. Also makes it very obvious that this movie takes itself really seriously despite the utter absence of talent whatsoever. The director of these almost 1.5 hours is the still relatively young Peter Stauch and if you take a closer look at all he has done in the past, you will see a great deal of television episodes, not really too many movies, but almost every single one of these shows is the epitome of generic uninspired entertainment for the simple-minded, so no surprise it all went wrong here ith him charge of a full feature film. Writer is Marcus Hertneck. Not much to say about him. He is older than the director, but not as prolific. And the inclusions of Danella, Pilcher and Fforde in his body of work are really self-explanatory. This project we have here was doomed from the start. The inclusion of production companies Bavaria Film and the even worse Degeto just adds more absence of talent. As for the cast, I am not too familiar with most actors in here. David Rott is the lead and he is also the one you see on the photo. Have not seen him in too much I believe, but his effort here (or "effort") makes it pretty clear it was not my loss. Sure no actor on the planet could have made this mess of a screenplay work, but he makes it feel even worse at times and after all nobody really forced him accept the lead role in this trashy movie. Does not speak for him. Anne Schäfer is the female lead. Not familiar with her, she was also nnot good in here. Teresa Harder plays the protagonist's mother and her I have seen in other stuff too. Cringeworthy to say the least. Actress with an utter absence of talent. She proves it here on several occasions. The worst of a couple really bad moments is of course when she quits her job and comes back out of nowhere three scenes later. Ridiculous. Unwatchable. Everybody else I don't know the names, but their roles are truly minor only, so not really worth the mention.
As for the specific scenes and moments when this film sucked, I could probably not even fit it all in one review before the character limit kicks in because there was almost every minute a scene when I cringed. I will just mention a few examples. Lack of realism is a major issue here. Like for example how the two lovebirds (of course they end up together) keep crashhing into each other on the road. How the male protagonist is in the way during the projection early on. How he sleeps all the time during the course etc. Also when they stand there with the other students gone and how they are close to each other, we are supposed to see some erotic tension or attraction? Oh please. This scene alone is unbearable to watch. The impossible happens nonetheless, things do get way worse. The male character has an accident and ends up inside a church and has an out-of-body experience. It is getting more ridiculous by the minute really. The most pathetic thing, however, is how almost at the end he talks to a priest about it and it is supposed to be an emotional highlight, but it's just so poorly executed that it is impossible to take it seriously. It's all a gigantic mess. Don't even get me started on the big success the female protagonist has when treating the male protagonist. She literally mocks her profession. The first scene with him in the mountains is bad enough already, but when he is fit and healthy again and out there once more and how he saves that other fella is just a joke honestly. Pseudo drama of the worst kind. Of course, he becomes a massive hero afterwards. I should say "messive" because this little play on words would turn it into a more accurate description of the film as a whole. Freudian slip indeed. In the end, he bonds with his ma again and eventtually also with the female character. These films always send the message that men are inferior and have to fight for the women they want to be with and sometimes are fools and idiots while the women are always classy and don't need men. The reason is that these films, even if the lead is male, are much more for female audiences. They have to please those. So I appreciate every female who sees through the really bad quality we got here. It's also the small moments where the film sucks, not just the key story. Best example is for example how they throw in randomly that her mother works as a doctor or so in London. How cosmopolitan! Then there is the scene with the speeding car and how she drives ultra slowly. How they interact is all so fake, so staged, so unrealistic, so unauthentic. Sometimes it is so bad that I had to laugh, but this was not the intention here. It is all supposed to be meant seriously. Oh yeah, there is also of course the pseudo emotional story with the male protagonist and how he blames himself for his father's death. Of course, that is fixed as well in the end. This plot idea is also key. What was minor was when we have him stand there naked and of course this is the moment she comes in and she is visually confused while he plays it cool. I guess she likes his genital right away? Yeah, this film is not better than the aforementioned Pilcher, Danella and Fforde adaptations. Not one bit. Probably even worse than some of the stuff they did. More pseudo drama results from the male protagonist's idea to simply retire and have his love interest be the new boss. I could go on and on about why this movie sucks. A hundred moments that serve as evidence. But I shall leave it at that. The writer's shots at character development and depth are completely lost in a terrible screenplay and the cast's inability to pull it off. A film that would be deserving of less than two stars, but I rate out of five, so I never go below one out of five. Lucky for these films. Massive thumbs-down. Highly not recommended. Stay far, far away from this film. For your own sake.
As for the specific scenes and moments when this film sucked, I could probably not even fit it all in one review before the character limit kicks in because there was almost every minute a scene when I cringed. I will just mention a few examples. Lack of realism is a major issue here. Like for example how the two lovebirds (of course they end up together) keep crashhing into each other on the road. How the male protagonist is in the way during the projection early on. How he sleeps all the time during the course etc. Also when they stand there with the other students gone and how they are close to each other, we are supposed to see some erotic tension or attraction? Oh please. This scene alone is unbearable to watch. The impossible happens nonetheless, things do get way worse. The male character has an accident and ends up inside a church and has an out-of-body experience. It is getting more ridiculous by the minute really. The most pathetic thing, however, is how almost at the end he talks to a priest about it and it is supposed to be an emotional highlight, but it's just so poorly executed that it is impossible to take it seriously. It's all a gigantic mess. Don't even get me started on the big success the female protagonist has when treating the male protagonist. She literally mocks her profession. The first scene with him in the mountains is bad enough already, but when he is fit and healthy again and out there once more and how he saves that other fella is just a joke honestly. Pseudo drama of the worst kind. Of course, he becomes a massive hero afterwards. I should say "messive" because this little play on words would turn it into a more accurate description of the film as a whole. Freudian slip indeed. In the end, he bonds with his ma again and eventtually also with the female character. These films always send the message that men are inferior and have to fight for the women they want to be with and sometimes are fools and idiots while the women are always classy and don't need men. The reason is that these films, even if the lead is male, are much more for female audiences. They have to please those. So I appreciate every female who sees through the really bad quality we got here. It's also the small moments where the film sucks, not just the key story. Best example is for example how they throw in randomly that her mother works as a doctor or so in London. How cosmopolitan! Then there is the scene with the speeding car and how she drives ultra slowly. How they interact is all so fake, so staged, so unrealistic, so unauthentic. Sometimes it is so bad that I had to laugh, but this was not the intention here. It is all supposed to be meant seriously. Oh yeah, there is also of course the pseudo emotional story with the male protagonist and how he blames himself for his father's death. Of course, that is fixed as well in the end. This plot idea is also key. What was minor was when we have him stand there naked and of course this is the moment she comes in and she is visually confused while he plays it cool. I guess she likes his genital right away? Yeah, this film is not better than the aforementioned Pilcher, Danella and Fforde adaptations. Not one bit. Probably even worse than some of the stuff they did. More pseudo drama results from the male protagonist's idea to simply retire and have his love interest be the new boss. I could go on and on about why this movie sucks. A hundred moments that serve as evidence. But I shall leave it at that. The writer's shots at character development and depth are completely lost in a terrible screenplay and the cast's inability to pull it off. A film that would be deserving of less than two stars, but I rate out of five, so I never go below one out of five. Lucky for these films. Massive thumbs-down. Highly not recommended. Stay far, far away from this film. For your own sake.
