"Der Nesthocker" is a German television film from 2018. This one runs for 1.5 hours as they usually do, at least the small screen releases from my country, and the director was Franziska Meyer Price when she worked on this film. She was in her mid50s then and of course she is a pretty experienced filmmaker as she already started way back at the end of the last millennium. However, if you take a closer look at her body of work, you will see that she is all about quantity. Not at all about quality. I mean her body of work is not horribly bad, but still includes many films and shows for which it is still a very nice way to put it when I call them weak. The writer here is Claudius Pläging, more than a decade younger than the director and actually he may be the main reason why this worked out kinda well. No offense to the lead actor though. Pläging has worked with Olli Ditttich in the past on a project that I totally enjoyed and also he worked on "Pastewka", one of my favorite German television shows ever. It seems he was a bit of a late bloomer because his older projects are from 2015 when he was 40, but the talent is there without a doubt and now I am also curious about other stuff he worked on, especially the really recent projects. But now let's take a look at this one here again. The title is pretty difficult to translate. Basically, it is a reference to a bird that stays in the nest for much longer than most other birds and enjoys the warmth and everything there and has no real intention to leave. This is a metaphor only though because it is used much more often for people now and this is also what we have with this movie. It is a reference to a man who still lives with his mother and does not really want anybody else in her mother's life, especially no men as new partners or something. This title makes it an unusual choice. It fits well given the character it describes, but the surprise comes with the fact that the central character is somebody else, namely the one you see on the imdb photo sitting in front. The "Nesthocker" stands in the background with his mother. Kinda fitting by the way too that they had "Hendrik" as the working title and not "Armin". Also I must say I do not know the actor who plays the title character. He was okay though. The biggest lead performance here comes from Francis Fulton-Smith and he has been really prolific over the years. I think he played his part well, so if Pläging is not the MVP, then it's FFS. Actually, FFS growing older now is a great thing because this means he no longer shows up in these usually terrible romance movies he has been a part of on many occasions. But on the other hand, it is also a bit sad how he wasted his career with these films because here he proves that he has much more talent and versatility than most of the people in these terrible movies I just mentioned. He also played politician Franz Josef Strauß a while ago and received great accolades for his portrayal there. The female lead here is Carin C. Tietze. She may be a bit older than her love interest in this movie, but I think she looks younger than she is and also Fulton-Smith does not, at least not in this film, so it's not an issue at all. I must say I am not very familiar with Tietze either. Haven't seen too much from her or at least don't remember her from other films, but here was was alright and also for somebody between early 50s and mid-50s pretty attractive. It's kinda fitting that, as we find out when she gave birth to her son (and also what FFS's character thinks how old he is), her character was probably way younger than the actress, maybe almost a decade. As for the cast members that play minor characters, I cannot say too much. Philippe Brenninkmeyer I have come across for sure, Zamperoni also something clicks, but not sure what, but the biggest mention goes to Simon Licht and Stromberg fans will be happy to see him back in the office, even if his character here is a much bigger fool than the one he played on the Christoph Maria Herbst series.
Now, as for the story, you can say this is the tale of a man who is a bit (gently-speaking) of a loser when it comes to every aspect in life really. Nobody takes him seriously. His boss keeps mocking him. Women don't see him. Or at least not as a potential lover. And finally he also cannot help his mother because they wont correct a crucial mistake she made when he calls them. Difficult to summarize. Watch the movie and you know what I am talking about. You should anyway because this was sometimes really good. There were even moments when I thought about giving this two more stars and making it a contender for best German film from 2018. Admittedly, there are also flaws and I will talk about them later on and these flaws kept me from doing so. Still, the acting was decent, the script was as well. And let's not forget that this one we have here is a Degeto production. Degeto, for those who don't know, is the darkest abyss the German television industry has ever seen and they have produced hundreds, maybe thousands at some point if we wait a few more years, of movies that are absolutely abysmal and the German citizens are forced (I kid you not) to pay for the production of these films with GEZ money. If you don't pay, you go to court and probably a little later to jail. Until you pay. And let's not even talk about the level of propag.. ehmmm news ("news") they are producing with this money. But yeah, this film is really the exception and finally something where Degeto did not mess up entirely. I was entertained well for the most part. But it was not just the key story that was good, also the attention to detail. For example, we have one scene here in which the male protagonist visits a former lover of the one he desires and we see in what a bad state his life is and then we have some "Kopfkino" how the protagonist (annoying I cannot title character) sees himself in the exact same scenario. Stuff like this always reminded of a live action version of "Family Guy". Probably just me though. Now the downside: One big flaw here is really that the female protagonist is so blind when it comes to the shenanigans from her son and how he chases potential lovers away. He manages to put the blame on the men all the time, but she simply does not understand, although by now she really should have gotten the memo. She does not even question the actions. The second big issue I have here are really the final 15 minutes. Degeto films always have a tendency to try to solve every issue and make everybody happy in the end, no matter how unrealistic it may seem. This is also the case here. I mean already the moment when the bad guy shows up at the office and all of a sudden acts nicely towards the protagonist. I mean he even supports him on one occasion in another context when he talks to his boss or something. Oh yes, the talk was about doors belonging in houses. Okay, this was maybe a bit too much of an exaggeration that Licht's character would make such a mistake honestly. He can't be that incompetent. The heart attack (or close to that) was also a bit too much and the film was at its best when it did not take itself too seriously. Nonetheless, back to the exaggerated happy ending. What else is there? The title character moves out and also he may be on course to starting a career as a cook and he finally realizes that there he has more talent than in painting. And this was even inspired by Armin. Also Armin solves the issue with his mother and the money they want from her by paying the guy in charge a fairly unpleasant visit. I mean I get it that this is about character transformation, but maybe it was just too much what he told him there. Same with the scene in which he goes to his boss and says that he gets the promotion or he quits. Sigh. And at the very end, he is of course reunited with his lost love at the cinema again. This was a bit of a frame and closure with the reference to their first meeting, but it still did not touch me one bit and it also was not funny. As for the scene near the end with his ex-girlfriend and how she shows up unexpectedly at the apartment, let's ignore it. That was Schweighöfer humor honestly, i.e. absolutely cringeworthy and unfunny. Same applies to an early phone conversation the man has with his love interest early on. So there were some small moments and some big moments where they could have done better and these are the ones that keep me from being really enthusiastic about this film. Other than that, I liked it though and also I give the outcome a thumbs-up here. Go see it if you get the chance. I think this is certainly a bit on the underseen side and it does not get any better than that in terms of compliments when spekaing about ARD Degeto films. Glad this was on today and I got to watch it. Also I kinda feel that maybe the era of the absolutely terrible German television movies may be over or at least that they do not exist in such a massive quantity anymore as in 2010 for and the years directly before and after that. Good news. Enough for this one here. It's a positive recommendation and not even close. Also quickly a few more snippets: The references about going alone to the movies, the romantic boat trip (even if it was illegal), about what the woman says when they meet his boss and even about the Beatles were alright, but come on. If you care so much about these little figures, then put them somewhere safe. Octopus's Garden is a really cool song though. Thanks for remembering me!
Now, as for the story, you can say this is the tale of a man who is a bit (gently-speaking) of a loser when it comes to every aspect in life really. Nobody takes him seriously. His boss keeps mocking him. Women don't see him. Or at least not as a potential lover. And finally he also cannot help his mother because they wont correct a crucial mistake she made when he calls them. Difficult to summarize. Watch the movie and you know what I am talking about. You should anyway because this was sometimes really good. There were even moments when I thought about giving this two more stars and making it a contender for best German film from 2018. Admittedly, there are also flaws and I will talk about them later on and these flaws kept me from doing so. Still, the acting was decent, the script was as well. And let's not forget that this one we have here is a Degeto production. Degeto, for those who don't know, is the darkest abyss the German television industry has ever seen and they have produced hundreds, maybe thousands at some point if we wait a few more years, of movies that are absolutely abysmal and the German citizens are forced (I kid you not) to pay for the production of these films with GEZ money. If you don't pay, you go to court and probably a little later to jail. Until you pay. And let's not even talk about the level of propag.. ehmmm news ("news") they are producing with this money. But yeah, this film is really the exception and finally something where Degeto did not mess up entirely. I was entertained well for the most part. But it was not just the key story that was good, also the attention to detail. For example, we have one scene here in which the male protagonist visits a former lover of the one he desires and we see in what a bad state his life is and then we have some "Kopfkino" how the protagonist (annoying I cannot title character) sees himself in the exact same scenario. Stuff like this always reminded of a live action version of "Family Guy". Probably just me though. Now the downside: One big flaw here is really that the female protagonist is so blind when it comes to the shenanigans from her son and how he chases potential lovers away. He manages to put the blame on the men all the time, but she simply does not understand, although by now she really should have gotten the memo. She does not even question the actions. The second big issue I have here are really the final 15 minutes. Degeto films always have a tendency to try to solve every issue and make everybody happy in the end, no matter how unrealistic it may seem. This is also the case here. I mean already the moment when the bad guy shows up at the office and all of a sudden acts nicely towards the protagonist. I mean he even supports him on one occasion in another context when he talks to his boss or something. Oh yes, the talk was about doors belonging in houses. Okay, this was maybe a bit too much of an exaggeration that Licht's character would make such a mistake honestly. He can't be that incompetent. The heart attack (or close to that) was also a bit too much and the film was at its best when it did not take itself too seriously. Nonetheless, back to the exaggerated happy ending. What else is there? The title character moves out and also he may be on course to starting a career as a cook and he finally realizes that there he has more talent than in painting. And this was even inspired by Armin. Also Armin solves the issue with his mother and the money they want from her by paying the guy in charge a fairly unpleasant visit. I mean I get it that this is about character transformation, but maybe it was just too much what he told him there. Same with the scene in which he goes to his boss and says that he gets the promotion or he quits. Sigh. And at the very end, he is of course reunited with his lost love at the cinema again. This was a bit of a frame and closure with the reference to their first meeting, but it still did not touch me one bit and it also was not funny. As for the scene near the end with his ex-girlfriend and how she shows up unexpectedly at the apartment, let's ignore it. That was Schweighöfer humor honestly, i.e. absolutely cringeworthy and unfunny. Same applies to an early phone conversation the man has with his love interest early on. So there were some small moments and some big moments where they could have done better and these are the ones that keep me from being really enthusiastic about this film. Other than that, I liked it though and also I give the outcome a thumbs-up here. Go see it if you get the chance. I think this is certainly a bit on the underseen side and it does not get any better than that in terms of compliments when spekaing about ARD Degeto films. Glad this was on today and I got to watch it. Also I kinda feel that maybe the era of the absolutely terrible German television movies may be over or at least that they do not exist in such a massive quantity anymore as in 2010 for and the years directly before and after that. Good news. Enough for this one here. It's a positive recommendation and not even close. Also quickly a few more snippets: The references about going alone to the movies, the romantic boat trip (even if it was illegal), about what the woman says when they meet his boss and even about the Beatles were alright, but come on. If you care so much about these little figures, then put them somewhere safe. Octopus's Garden is a really cool song though. Thanks for remembering me!
