"600 PS for 2" is a German television film from 2015, so this one has its fifth anniversary this year. The title may be a bit confusing, for foreign audiences especially if they even look in here, but it basically just gives away an amount of horsepower probably linked to the car the two protagonists are driving in on many occasions for this film and the "2" (surprised they did not write "two") states nothing but the aforemenetioned amount of main characters we have here, namely those two you see on the poster here on imdb. Anyway, first things first: The director is Sophie Allet-Coche and the writer is Daniel Scotti-Rosin. Well, what can I say about these two? Double name day! But no seriously, the director is definitely the more experienced from the two, has worked since the start of the new millennium on many projects in fact, many of these trashy RTL (and Sat1) television comedies. Nothing exactly to be proud of, but there may be some guilty pleasure potential at least. The writer, however, is not a rookie either, but also not particularly prolific, and overall I would say that he worked on low-quality projects almost exclusively pretty much, so his body of work is worse than the director's. By the way, the "2" in the title is also fairly fitting because this is a ZDF production, i.e. a production of the second (biggest) German television channel. ZDF may not be as prolific as ARD and ARD Degeto, but they also have a few films made over the years, many comedies. And they ere attractive and/or lucrative enough to also attract decent actors it seems because the two leads here are close to big names. Sittler is known to German television viewers 100%, he did more there than on the big screen. Knaup did both on the other hand and people maybe still remember him from "Lola rennt", although I don't because I have never really liked that movie. Anyway, it seems these two are all where the money went because the rest of the cast is not famous at all. Many of them were still really active over the years, but their names don't ring much of a bell and they are probably more about quantity than quality. The only slight exception is Eitner-Achempong because of her role in "Stromberg" (Erike), the German version of "The Office". Her role is so minimal though. That is it pretty much though. Another double name. And there is one more. So indeed double name day. Anyway, this film was on around noon tonight and as I kinda like the two lead actors, I decided to give it a go.
Sittler is probably more of a lead here than Knaup, but the latter is as well, it is just more of Sittler's story, especially how we find out about the background and the story also starts with him. These two made the film bearable at times, but they are no super heroes. No actor on this planet could honestly have turned this screenplay into a really good film, probably not even a good film. The writer simply did not have the talent and it is a good thing I suppose the demand for future screenplays from this man is relatively low because his last project is from 2017, so closer to this movie actually than to the now. However, if he improves, then I am all for him getting employed again. I just have doubts. So yeah, like I said, Sittler who is okay for me and Knaup who I like make this a tolerable watch here and there and keep it from being a failure, which is still kinda is storywise I suppose. Just take the general idea how the guy ends up exactly in that car driven by his former boss, but he does not know that it is the man who fired him because he never saw his face. So the two kinda make a connection. This stepping in the car idea is already enough coincidence (and lack of realism) for two films of this running time pretty much I'd say and yet they continued with it, so it just never felt really authentic. It was also the small moments where it sucked like for example the idea how Sittler's character is attacked so harshly by Eitner-Acheampong's early on and not much later they are talking like friends pretty much. Professional solidarity? Not good enough of an explanation. Or when Sittler's character runs into a former colleague. More unrealistic coinciende. Or hen the truth comes out towards the end the fight beteen the two main character that honestly was not just poorly written, but also not exactly acted very well by Knaup especially. I like him, but I must say that. The way he fell did not look realistic. Of course, there is nonetheless the (90%) happy ending happening, which is also always a safe indicator for these rather trashy films by the big channels ARD and ZDF. Your GEZ money at work, folks. Stand up. Nonetheless, it must definitely be said that this film is better when it goes for comedy than for drama. The more emotional moments, especially the story between father and daughter, are sometimes on the cringeworthy side and never feel too authentic, let alone touch the heart. Admittedly, this particular sequence is even more difficult to appreciate because the young actress simply is not any good. So overall, this film reminded me a bit of an old men#s version of a recent Mädel/Eidinger film. To some extent at least, although the latter is probably superior. Not necessarily the acting, but the story and plot. I think that I am even a bit generous here with my two stars out of five because if you don't like Knaup and Sittler as much as I do, then the film could feel absolutely 100% irrelevant to you. No hesitation for me in giving the overall outcome here a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.
Sittler is probably more of a lead here than Knaup, but the latter is as well, it is just more of Sittler's story, especially how we find out about the background and the story also starts with him. These two made the film bearable at times, but they are no super heroes. No actor on this planet could honestly have turned this screenplay into a really good film, probably not even a good film. The writer simply did not have the talent and it is a good thing I suppose the demand for future screenplays from this man is relatively low because his last project is from 2017, so closer to this movie actually than to the now. However, if he improves, then I am all for him getting employed again. I just have doubts. So yeah, like I said, Sittler who is okay for me and Knaup who I like make this a tolerable watch here and there and keep it from being a failure, which is still kinda is storywise I suppose. Just take the general idea how the guy ends up exactly in that car driven by his former boss, but he does not know that it is the man who fired him because he never saw his face. So the two kinda make a connection. This stepping in the car idea is already enough coincidence (and lack of realism) for two films of this running time pretty much I'd say and yet they continued with it, so it just never felt really authentic. It was also the small moments where it sucked like for example the idea how Sittler's character is attacked so harshly by Eitner-Acheampong's early on and not much later they are talking like friends pretty much. Professional solidarity? Not good enough of an explanation. Or when Sittler's character runs into a former colleague. More unrealistic coinciende. Or hen the truth comes out towards the end the fight beteen the two main character that honestly was not just poorly written, but also not exactly acted very well by Knaup especially. I like him, but I must say that. The way he fell did not look realistic. Of course, there is nonetheless the (90%) happy ending happening, which is also always a safe indicator for these rather trashy films by the big channels ARD and ZDF. Your GEZ money at work, folks. Stand up. Nonetheless, it must definitely be said that this film is better when it goes for comedy than for drama. The more emotional moments, especially the story between father and daughter, are sometimes on the cringeworthy side and never feel too authentic, let alone touch the heart. Admittedly, this particular sequence is even more difficult to appreciate because the young actress simply is not any good. So overall, this film reminded me a bit of an old men#s version of a recent Mädel/Eidinger film. To some extent at least, although the latter is probably superior. Not necessarily the acting, but the story and plot. I think that I am even a bit generous here with my two stars out of five because if you don't like Knaup and Sittler as much as I do, then the film could feel absolutely 100% irrelevant to you. No hesitation for me in giving the overall outcome here a thumbs-down. Watch something else instead.
