Echte Kerle (1996)

A Toned-down re-make of "Der Bewegte Mann"

"Regular Guys" is a toned-down re-make of the 1996 German film "Der Bewegte Mann". "Regular Guys" (Echte Kerle auf Deutsch)is very good, funny and charming, but if you can find "Der Bewegte Mann," it is bawdy, laugh-out-loud, side-splitting FUNNY. September 5, 2007

From a different perspective

This movie was recommened to me by a friend. Bought the DVD and do not regret it although it was not as good as I expected. A straight man in a gay man's world is quite a different approach. German film with sub-tiles. There can be harmony amongst all people if you only tolerate (or rather accept) differences. In the end we are all normal and abnormal, no difference. January 10, 2007

SO exactly what did we do last night?

Not a dull minute in this film. Great from start to finish. Great sound and picture quality. The casting is superb as is the acting. This is one I will definately want to see again and again. The story starts when a straight undercover cop Christoph (Christoph M. Ort) has a really really bad day. His fiance kicks him out of their apartment where he finds her with another man. You name it, this guy has been through it before the day ends. When nothing else seemingly can go wrong, or when he finally gives up and quits caring what happens next, he finds himself at a bar and decides to go in and have a drink. Oh course it turns out to be a gay bar and after he's had a few, he passes out. Next morning he wakes up naked in the arms of a very good looking gay mechanic (Tim Bergmann)who's into fixing stolen cars. Did they or didn't they? Problem: neither one can remember what happened if anything. The next couple weeks he stays with the mechanic while looking for a place of his own. All the while defending himself to Edgar as totally straight and warding off his advances. This is a hilarious turn of events that shows Christoph seeking to start a relationship with a female co-worker but also finding himself jealous of Edgars boyfriend and anyone who makes eyes at him. The two find themselves outted as lovers, while Christoph is working on an undercover stolen car ring and Edgar is in posession of the stolen cars. You never know what's going to happen next! I HIGHLY recommend this film. There is something in it for about anyone to enjoy. Romance, a couple shower scenes, softcore full male frontal nudity, comedy, adventure, and lots of surprises!!! October 11, 2006

Very funny foreign movie

It was one of the foreign movies with subtitles. But I didn't feel at all that I am reading and watching at the same time. Well done movie with good European sense of humor. I bet most of you will love it. I rented it but now I will buy it for sure. September 9, 2005

"Say...did anything happen last night?"

Made almost ten years ago Rolf Silber's Regular Guys is somewhat of a mixed bag. Blessed with a cast of mostly pretty people, and with some nice comedic moments, a rather insipid plot ultimately hampers the film, with the whole affair coming across more like a late night German sitcom than as a fully-fledged motion picture.

It's hard to figure out what Silber was actually trying to say in Regular Guys. Is the movie a testament to the hip to the new rules of dating where gender roles, sexual orientation, and social expectations are not that easily defined anymore? Or is Silber merely making a statement, and saying that, hey, Germans can have a sense of humour too. Perhaps it's a little bit of both.

In any case, Regular Guys does have some genuinely warm-heated, tender, and funny moments, but there's not one ounce of originality here and it's absolutely packed with every stereotype imaginable. There's also a rather annoying early-adolescent approach to sexual relations that can't get over its stifled-giggle titillation over two hunky guys sharing a bed, even if they aren't actually having sex. After all, these people are supposed to be mature adults, but they're acting out more like silly teenagers.

A very sexy Christoph Ohrt plays officer Christoph Schwenk. Christoph is a pretty straight talking, gruff, bare-bones kind of guy, who upon returning home one day, after a crime bust, finds his fiancé with another man. Understandably upset, he takes his belongings and drowns his sorrows. Stuck for a place to stay and down on his luck, he eventually wonders unknowingly into a gay bar and proceeds to get drunk.

The next morning wakes up in the arms of Edgar, (Tim Bergmann), an adorable mechanic. Christoph is understandably upset, and he can't for the life of him remember what happened and how he got there. After a lot of naked running around and embarrassed silences, the two men form an uneasy truce, with Edgar telling Christoph that "nothing happened that you didn't want to happen."

Edgar offers the policeman the spare room and the two begin sharing the apartment. At first, Christoph is a little freaked out and avoids all the pictures and statues of priapic nude men that decorate every square inch of Edgar's flat. Soon, however, an inconvenient and rather begrudging friendship develops between the odd couple. Things get really complicated when Edgar's lover and mother take turns dropping in unexpectedly. Edgar also begins to fall in love with Christoph.

Back at the station, Christoph and his partner are given new colleague, Helen (Carin Tietze). Helen is living with another woman, but Christoph has been steadily becoming attracted to her. But does she really like women? To make matters worse it turns out Edgar is a mechanic who deals in stolen cars, the same ring Christoph and his partner are investigating. When Christoph's superiors see the two men driving around town and drinking in a bar together, rumors begin to fly about Christoph's sexuality.

The best scenes in the film are when Christoph and Edgar are together, and exchange some witty "lifestyle" barbs with each other. Both the actors ooze a definite charisma and you can really believe that there is some kind of furtive attraction going on between them both. The funniest scene is when they are forced to kiss each other in a gay bar.

Regular Guys fields no great surprises with the formulaic plot playing out to its conventional conclusion. Although, there is one surprise revelation regarding the sexual orientation of one of the supporting characters, it's mostly steady and predictable as she goes. Most of the subplots involving the car thieves are left hanging so it's best not to question too closely what you're watching, or the whole film might cave in upon you.

The theme of "straight guy being sexually confused" comes across as a little too far-fetched for my liking, especially for a guy like Christoph, who at his age, would probably be pretty secure in his own skin. But if you can suspend disbelief and let the story play it out, Regular Guys is mostly enjoyable.

Of course, being European, there is some casual "locker room" full frontal male nudity, which may intrigue, or offend, some viewers, depending on where you're coming from. And the film is certainly worth taking a look at, not only for the hunky Christoph Ohrt, but also for some wonderful city views of Frankfurt. Mike Leonard August 05.
August 13, 2005

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