Alex und der Löwe

For me, "Alex and Leo" was one of the few bright spots of this year's QFest, but even this one had its bad moments and many, many flaws. The unconvincing camera work and the poor sound quality almost ruined it for me, but then again we have to be aware that there was absolutely no budget involved.

The story: Alex (Andre Schneider) walks in on his boyfriend doing someone else and ends the relationship which makes his friends Tobi (Udo Lutz), Kerstin (Beate Kurecki) and Steffi Graf (Sasca Hai) quite happy, and the reasonable Steffi tries to comfort Alex. German porn icon Marcel Schlutt stars as Leo, who falls madly in love with Alex and leaves his bossy girlfriend for him. (Schlutt is decidedly handsome but also pretty deadpan and totally lacks the ability to act.) Alex is very reluctant at first but can't resist Leo very long. And somewhere in Berlin, love's also waiting for Tobi and Steffi.

Fine performances by Lutz, Hai, Schneider and Hans Hendrik Trost (who plays Schneider's cheating boyfriend) and a nicely penned script save this ship from drowning, the editing is good, and the music (mostly French and German songs) makes "Alex and Leo" so enjoyable that I left the theater with a big smile. Normally, I'd give "Alex and Leo" five out of ten, but compared to all the other shitty films at 2010's QFest, this was a true gem, so I added two more stars.

I saw the movie "Alex and Leo" at a screening at QFest in Philadelphia. So here is my opinion: This movie could have been so much better. With better actors, better character developments and better comedy. Don't get me wrong, the movie is charming in a amateur kind of way but it also has many flaws. Beginning with the camera work, the quality of this changes from scene to scene. In one scene it's very professional and in the other scene it's very amateurish. The performances in the movie are split between the good Ones like Udo Lutz and the wooden Ones like Andre Schneider. He, as the main guy of the movie has not much leader qualities, the same goes to Marcel Schlutt who is gorgeous to look at, but doesn't have the acting range to play such a part. Their is no real chemistry between both of them, Schlutt does his own thing and never clicks with Schneider. On the good side is Udo Lutz, who creates a funny Tobi. But even he can't save this flick from being a mediocre German import. The saddest thing to say here is that the timing which is so important in these kind of movies is totally off limit. Like I said: This could have been so much better.

"Alex and Leo" is mediocre in almost every way. The direction is clumsy (non-existent?), most of the actors really aren't that good (especially Marcel Schlutt (another porn star who desperately tries to act), the guy who's supposed to be carrying this flick, is excessively bad! Truly, the film's most unintentional horror is Schlutt's "acting"), and the awful camera work makes the whole thing painful to watch.

Some moments sparkle though. André Schneider has written a beautiful screenplay with some pretty nice jokes and characters in it. (About his acting one has to say kindly: he's proved his dramatic abilities elsewhere; here he's basically required to look petrified and sweet.)

The movie should be called "Tobi", because it's mainly the comedic timing and genius of Udo Lutz (who's never acted before!) that makes "Alex and Leo" worth watching. He's the ultimate gay super-bitch and shines above the rest of the cast. Definitely a talent to watch! (And sexy, too!)

Otherwise: who cares about German movies anyway?

What a turkey. Marcel Schlutt is nice to look at but I'm more excited looking at his tumblr.

Tobi's character is embarrassing and insulting to gay men everywhere. That actor plays insulting gay characters, bitchy, childish, immature, flamboutient.