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What a Man

What a Man

Movie · 2011 · 15 people

Matthias Schweighöfer both stars and makes his directing debut in What a Man, a German romantic comedy from 2011. A schoolteacher is cheated on and left by his girlfriend, begins to question his own masculinity and tries to work out what kind of man women actually want. Running about 95 minutes, it was a big draw at the German box office, though critics were divided. In Turkey it was released as Ne Adam Ama.

The hero is Alex Nowak, a thirty-year-old primary school teacher in Frankfurt, played by Schweighöfer himself. His life falls apart when he learns that Carolin (Mavie Hörbiger), his partner of three years, is seeing Jens, the athletic neighbour upstairs, played by Thomas Kretschmann. Alex's flirtatious, rather macho best friend Okke (Elyas M'Barek) sets out to teach him how to attract women, while Sibel Kekilli plays Nele.

Schweighöfer wrote the screenplay with Doron Wisotzky and also produced. Fox International Productions and Pantaleon Films backed the film, shot from September to November 2010 in Frankfurt, Offenbach and Düsseldorf. It opened in Germany on 25 August 2011 and drew about 1.8 million viewers, the second most successful German film of 2011 after Kokowääh. Schweighöfer received the Hessian Film Award, and in 2012 the film won the Jupiter Award for best German film.

DirectorMatthias Schweighöfer
Production companyFox International Productions, Pantaleon Films

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Cast

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Sibel Kekilli Sibel Kekilli Actor · 46 years old Thomas Kretschmann Thomas Kretschmann Actor · 64 years old Matthias Schweighöfer Elyas M'Barek Mavie Hörbiger Milan Peschel Theresa Underberg Gitta Schweighöfer Katharina Schüttler Pasquale Aleardi Nora Tschirner Lilay Huser Friedrich Mücke Luise Bähr Doron Wisotzky

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Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Schweighöfer's directing debut knows the rules of the commercial romantic comedy well but never pushes them. A cheated-on teacher rebuilding himself around the question of 'how to be a man' is a solid premise, yet the script resolves that question with stock situation-comedy patterns instead of digging into it. The predictability of the macho friend's lessons and a story that ticks off the familiar stops one by one make the formula weigh heavily. Reaching about 1.8 million viewers in Germany shows the formula works, but the split among critics is no accident either. Smooth entertainment, not a film that leaves a mark.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

It's a romantic comedy, but not one for young children. Being cheated on, breaking up and trying to win women over are front and centre. For teenagers and adults it can make a light evening film. Watching with grandparents, some jokes may feel awkward. In short, it suits a night with friends more than family viewing.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

What is most interesting about the film is how it turns the early-2010s confusion over what masculinity means into comic material. The contrast between a sensitive primary school teacher, the athletic neighbour and the macho best friend sets side by side, with humour, the different models society offers men. Yet rather than questioning those models, the film is content to look for which one the hero should fit, and the women mostly remain the yardstick for that search. Even so, it is a light but period-true mirror of contemporary German city life and relationship expectations.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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