"Engel & Joe" or "Engel + Joe" or "Hexe & Zottel" is a German movie from 2001, so this one had its 15th anniversary last year and it runs for slightly over 1.5 hours. It is the most known work so far by director Vanessa Jopp, who is also one of the writers working on the script here. The cast includes Robert Stadlober playing one title character and he was quite a star in German back then, but rightfully today he is basically not a factor at all anymore when it comes to new films. He is certainly all about his looks that probably aren't too much mainstream, but also nothing special. Talent is missing entirely in him. His female co-lead is played by Jana Pallaske and while she is certainly enjoying a better career than Stadlober these days, there is also a reason why she appears on "Dancing with the Stars" (the German version) instead of "Homeland". With her looks fading, so will her career. The only reason why she looks somewhat fine in this film we have here is because her male co-lead is extremely untalented and makes it fairly easy for her. Those crying and screaming scenes by Stadlober were 100% cringe. In general, the character of Engel (cringy name too) is all about the looks really, the costumes, the makeup and who plays him is entirely irrelevant, at least with Stadlober's approach.
Another cringeworthy thing here is the title. Reading it, it becomes somewhat clear with the English name in the second half as well as the & instead of "und", that they had some ambition for this film to make an impact internationally too. It does none of that. The talent simply isn't there, neither behind nor in front of the camera. Even with all the plot twists they included (drug abuse, prostitution, pregnancy...), the film never tells a meaningful message. Instead they made sure on all kinds of occasions that we never forget how beautiful Pallaske is by having characters verbally applaud her looks all the time. Guess what, we already know the first time we see her. Another huge problem is that the filmmakers really tried so hard that we would like the two main characters, but how is it possible to like either. One is a drug-addicted small-time crook, homeless pseudo-punk, very poor man's Farin Urlaub, the other is a young woman who sleeps right away with one guy after getting engaged to another and apparently neither contraception nor her baby child are really important to her either.
Oh yeah and when you believe that the film has hit rock-bottom on enough occasions already, then the ending happens. We have a young man suffering strongly from drug withdrawal, so what do we do? Yeah, lets go on a trip to the mountains. Of course this will solve everything. Forced happy ending that has nothing to do with realism? Check. This film is a gigantic failure and it is shocking to see so many people work on the script and then we gets unrealistic quotes from start to finish and a plot (or several plots) that aren't remotely working either. I suggest you stay far far away from this one. Highly not recommended.
Another cringeworthy thing here is the title. Reading it, it becomes somewhat clear with the English name in the second half as well as the & instead of "und", that they had some ambition for this film to make an impact internationally too. It does none of that. The talent simply isn't there, neither behind nor in front of the camera. Even with all the plot twists they included (drug abuse, prostitution, pregnancy...), the film never tells a meaningful message. Instead they made sure on all kinds of occasions that we never forget how beautiful Pallaske is by having characters verbally applaud her looks all the time. Guess what, we already know the first time we see her. Another huge problem is that the filmmakers really tried so hard that we would like the two main characters, but how is it possible to like either. One is a drug-addicted small-time crook, homeless pseudo-punk, very poor man's Farin Urlaub, the other is a young woman who sleeps right away with one guy after getting engaged to another and apparently neither contraception nor her baby child are really important to her either.
Oh yeah and when you believe that the film has hit rock-bottom on enough occasions already, then the ending happens. We have a young man suffering strongly from drug withdrawal, so what do we do? Yeah, lets go on a trip to the mountains. Of course this will solve everything. Forced happy ending that has nothing to do with realism? Check. This film is a gigantic failure and it is shocking to see so many people work on the script and then we gets unrealistic quotes from start to finish and a plot (or several plots) that aren't remotely working either. I suggest you stay far far away from this one. Highly not recommended.