"SMS für Dich" is a German 105-minute movie from 2016. It is the first effort by actress Karoline Herfurth as writer and director of a full feature film. And if you look at the cast, many very successful German actors wanted to be a part of it. No need to mention the names here, take a look at the list perhaps. Herfurth also plays the central character and honestly her only really good scene is the very first of the film as she really shows a great portrayal of shock and disbelief there in a moment that defines almost everything afterward in terms of the plot. I really expected good quality afterward, but boy was I excused. What followed was the usual stuff by the likes of Ainscough/Schweighöfer when it comes to German movies that are about relationships and turn into a mix of romance, drama and comedy, even if at times the material is pretty dark here, darker than usual perhaps. But it is also even worse than usual. For the most part of the film, I wanted to give this one a 4/10 at least, but the longer it went, the more it became obvious that it just wasn't possible.
Co-lead Friedrich Mücke was as bland as it gets (maybe intentionally, so we won't forget who the star here is) and never had me cheer for him getting together with Herfurth The other supporting characters were extremely gimmicky and almost never felt like real people given the approach Herfurth gave them in the script and also the approach the actors gave them. This also applies to Nora Tschirner who I usually like, but I can only shake my head at what she did here. At best you could describe it as a bold attempt that resulted into a failure. Fittingly Mücke also worked with Schweighöfer several times, so the parallel I described earlier feels even more accurate. Besides that, the film is of course extremely predictable. They sure get together. Never in doubt. there was this moment of drama also in the last third of the movie where the audience should have doubts if they will come together when she finds out that he received all these SMS. But it all feels for the sake of it and it is cringeworthy how the film takes itself so seriously there while being so shallow and generic.
One of the worst moments where the above description also applies is one quote by Herfurth's character by being touched by her beloved one and about the pain where he does not touch her. Rock-bottom material there. And right when you think things could not get any worse, Katja Riemann enters the picture again and performs the most embarrassing outro song I have ever come across. The film started off not too bad, but quickly becomes forgettable soap opera material before turning into a huge mess eventually. It is pretty sad that this approach is actually what German film fans often like these days and what gets more people into cinemas than quality stuff. As for Herfurth, I can't say much about her direction (maybe she learned something from the likes of Daldry or De Palma, but in terms of screen writing she has a long long way to go until she reaches the point where I would applaud her. One of the worst German films from 2016. Stay far far away unless you appreciate schmaltz and contrived emotions.
