SMS for you

Two years have passed since Ben, the great love of children's author Clara (Karoline Herfurth), died in an accident. Two long years full of grief, which have plunged Clara not only personally but also professionally into a deep crisis. But now she wants to make it back to life with the help of her best friend Maja (Nora Tschirner). One way she hopes to help is by communicating with Ben by sending him text messages to his old cell phone number. What Clara doesn't know is that the number has been reassigned in the meantime and that her messages end up with sports journalist Mark (Friedrich Mücke), who is unexpectedly deeply touched by the mysterious short messages. With the help of his buddy David (Frederick Lau), he does everything in his power to find the unknown sender of the text messages and in the process not only plunges himself into a complete emotional chaos.

SMS für Dich is the directorial debut of Karoline Herfurth, who hit the mark right away with her debut feature. The film adaptation of Sofie Cramer's novel of the same name has become a wonderful cinematic romance, which in its best moments is reminiscent of big Hollywood power flicks in the style of Sleepless in Seattle or E-mail for You. Whether it's the camera work, the editing, the film music or the dialogues - for long stretches the production pleasantly breaks away from the typical German style and instead moves on an international level. This is not only evident in the romantic aspects of the story, which will really get to the heart of all RomCom lovers. The humorous scenes also work really well for long stretches, which is due to the successful script, but also to the actors.

For the best laughs are clearly a once again great Nora Tschirner and the unexpectedly funny Frederick Lau responsible. With their patter and - especially in Tschirner's case - their facial expressions, they ensure that the film never degenerates into a maudlin schmaltzette. Yes, some scenes are damn cheesy. But whenever it could become too much of a good thing, a witty dialogue or a delightful quip loosens up the proceedings. Granted, this doesn't always work perfectly. For example, it's too noticeable in the scenes set in David's newsroom that supporting actress Enissa Amani isn't a particularly good actress. She has charm, there's no question about that, and her humor is well received by many. But especially in the direct interaction with Frederick Lau and Friedrich Mücke it becomes clear that she still needs to work on serving humor a bit more subtly in terms of acting.

Also Katja Riemann's portrayal of a German pop star - any similarities to real superstars of the pop scene are of course purely coincidental - seems a bit too over the top at first. But then things take an unexpected and genuinely funny turn, culminating in a dangerously catchy pop song during the film's closing credits. What begins as an almost flat parody of the current pop song industry turns into a funny, yet surprisingly sympathetic character that Riemann embodies with a great deal of self-deprecation.

SMS für Dich is not a perfect film. There are a bit too many clichés, a few unnecessary lengths and some rather weak gags. But on the whole the movie offers very, very nice entertainment for the heart and also for the laughing muscles. Charming actors, a nice soundtrack and a beautiful love story also console over the few weak points. If you like it romantic, you should not miss this movie. Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp