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Sick Product of a Sick System

Good concept, poorly executed.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

"Halbe Brüder" is a German(-language) theatrical release from last year (2015). The director is Christian Alvart and he recently made the "Kinotatort" with Til Schweiger. It is tough to decide if that one is worse or this one here. "Half Brothers" runs for almost 2 hours and was written by no less than three people. I always find it shocking when a film has so many writers and yet it turns out such a mess. How can none of them have recognized the flaws. The title characters are played by Sido, Tedros Teclebrhan and Fahri Yardim. I would say Sido is not a talented actor at all and it would be true, but the more appropriate description is that Sido is not an actor at all. Teclebrhan is slightly better, but also really forgettable. Yardim is certainly the most experienced and most gifted from the trio, but it's not really outstanding talent that makes him look good, but the lack thereof when it comes to his co-leads. Supporting cast includes the likes of Detlev Buck and Charly Hübner for example. Both are fine, but also somewhat wasted.The story lacks creativity altogether, just like the title. 3 men find out they are brothers actually (half-brothers) and go on a journey together. This has been done many many times before and almost always better, not that this would be difficult at all. The ending is as predictable as most of the plot. The three don't get along at all early on, but are almost best friends when the credits roll in. Oh well.. The humor relies on fart jokes and obscene language and yet the makers expect us to take this movie seriously during its quickly-following dramatic moments. Almost impossible. And the most cringeworthy thing about it is how they are trying to deliver in terms of emotion as well and you can see so easily that the screen writing talent and range shown in here are just so far from everything that could have been a convincing outcome. The song about their mother being a whore at the very end summarizes this film perfectly. It's a huge mess. Only somewhat good thing is Roberto Blanco's fun performance, even if his character suffers from bad writing too and could have been much more entertaining. Another failure film starring Sido. It felt as if it never ended. Stay far far away.

It might be half brothers, but it doesn't do things half .. well you know where this would go. Having said that, the movie itself has a light tone to it and while it is not a masterpiece of cinema, it never set out to be one. It only set out to entertain you. And this it does and a very fine job it does too with it, thank you very much.There are things here that are not politically correct, so if you are easily offended maybe this is not for you. It does play with stereotypes and it does have a lot of fun with it. The three main actors do give the impression they know each other for a long time or at least will stay friends a long time after the movie is done. What you can tell for certain too: They had a lot of fun making this and it does show on screen ... in a good way

Three half brothers - guess what they make: a) one and a half brothers or b) a really enjoyable German comedy? Believe it or not: b) is the right answer. This film might not be perfect but it's made with compassion, wit and joy - and all that finds it's way to the audience. The three main characters are well casted, they all hold the balance between self-irony and "serious" acting. They meet each other for the first time and go on a German autobahn-trip to find the mysterious heritage their late mother left for them. It turns out, the mother was a real radical hippie, never present for their children, but a disciple of free love. And in contrary to e.g. Oskar Roehler's "Elementary Particles" she will not be remembered with shame or disgust. As a memory she'll become a beloved part of the unlikely unification of a family that was never supposed to be one (most of the time). What a family can mean to you (as a present father) is told almost by the way when you see Sido's character struggling with serious money problems, haunted by the collection agencies in the shape of a ugly pink bunny (!) Seriously, this is digging the truth far more than you usually see in German cinema and TV-movies, which tend to a "social realism" that is nothing more but swaggering kitsch of misery. But above these tender and serious grounds there is a lot of comedy going on in the first place. Well written one-liners seem to go hand in hand with moments of vibrant improvisation. And - of course, it's a Christian Alvart-Film, it's fun to watch all the references to film history. Since I saw it I always have a smile on my face when I think about "Halbe Brüder", and when I think about the joke with the record-deal, I still burst out in laughter. Actually, I would give it an 8. But since neither the audience nor the critics in Germany seem to get it - it has to be 10 as a statement...