Samba in Mettmann

Samba in Mettmann; comedy, Germany, 2004; D: Angelo Colagrossi, S: Hape Kerkeling, Beatrice Masala, Pamela Knight, Jana Ina, Alexandra Neldel, Barbara Magdalena Ahren, Uwe Rohde, Sky du Mont 

Mettman. Olaf runs a local dry cleaning store and is annoyed because his girlfriend Vera decided to practice abstinence until the wedding. Olaf's father Benno went away for a business travel. One night, Olaf saves three Brazilian girls - Alegra, Gioia and Felicidade - from bullies in a limousine. It turns out one of them, Felicidade, was suppose to marry the local "beer king" Pfeffer, but because of something the deal fell through. Since they don't have nowhere to go, Olaf let's them stay at his place, which causes numerous misunderstandings, including the one with Vera who thinks he wants to find another girlfriend because of her abstinence, making her turn into a vamp. Pfeffer dies from a heart attack, Olaf gets the luggage of the girls and finds out the reason for the crashed wedding - Felicidade is a transvestite. 

"Samba in Mettman" is an easily watchable comedy of misunderstanding which isn't sharp enough to be called a satire, yet thanks to the comic talent by the excellent Hape Kekerling and solid writing it can be "digested" without any problems. The light story flows nicely and contains only the minimum amount of irritating ideas, whereas the locations in Mettman are rather nice. In some other director's hands, the main tangle could have served as a great comedy of misunderstanding that reaches the Moliere calibre, yet this edition isn't bad either, though it is just an example of mild fun. Kekerling delivers the best jokes as Olaf, like in the scene where a sleeping Alegra falls with her head on his lap, and a surprised Olaf just claps with his hands to wake her up or the restaurant sequence where he and his girlfriend Vera, who practices abstinence before marriage, have this inspirational exchange of lines: "I want to wait until marriage, when we are Man and Woman!" - "And what are we now? Pig and chicken?" Likewise, the charming Alexandra Neldel steals the show here and there as Vera, who is "forced" to turn into a vamp in order to keep her boyfriend. 

Grade:+