Til Schweiger Movies

This earnest, German-language psychological drama follows the turmoil of a cyclist and womanizer (Til Schweiger), who loses one of his legs in a hit-and-run accident and must adjust, mentally and emotionally, to the presence of the disability. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A womanizing, muckraking Berlin journalist meets his match in the unlikely form of a children's day care owner in director/star Til Schweiger's breezy romantic comedy. Ludo (Schweiger) and his photographer Moritz (Matthias Schweighoefer) cover the Berlin celebrity circuit with a flair that's truly all their own, but a bad night reporting on a high-profile engagement party ends in the devil-may-care reporter sentenced to 300 hours of community service at a local day care center run by his former classmate Anna (Nora Tschirner). Klutzy former geek Anna doesn't care too much for Ludo due to fact that he once humiliated her back when the pair were classmates, but Ludo was so busy impressing girls that he barely even remembers the incident. Now it's Anna's chance to get a little revenge, and she wastes no time in giving Ludo the toughest assignments that she can dream up. But later, when Anna notices that there may be more to Ludo than ego and conquest, this mismatched pair begins to grow closer than either could one of them could have ever anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Love finds a tabloid journalist in an unexpected place in this romantic comedy from Germany. Ludo (Til Schweiger) is a reporter who has enjoyed a successful career documenting the peccadilloes of the rich and famous with the help of his photographer sidekick Moritz (Matthias Schweighoefer). But a run-in with boxer Wladimir Klitschko and his fiancée Yvonne Catterfeld at a party turns into a food fight and Ludo is charged with disturbing the peace. Ludo is ordered to perform three hundred hours of community service at a children's day care center, which is especially bad news since Ludo doesn't care for kids. Ludo finds himself working side by side with the center's director, Anna Gotzlowski (Nora Tschirner), who had an unfortunate run in with Ludo when they were children and doesn't like him any more now than she did then. Anna goes out of her way to make things difficult for Ludo, but in time he begins to get the hang of his new assignment, starts bonding with his young charges, and even enjoys a brief fling with a sexy single mom (Brigitte Zeh). But as Ludo's soft side begins to surface, Anna finds herself increasingly attracted to him, and the antagonists discover they're falling in love. Keinohrhasen was written and directed by leading man Til Schweiger, and was a major box office hit in Germany. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This comedy from Germany follows the misadventures of three senior citizens with an unusual plan to finance one last spree. Carla (Christel Okras), Beta (Christel Peters), and Lilli (Elisabeth Scherer) are three elderly women who have known each other since childhood and remain the best of friends. While their golden years have not been especially kind to them -- Lilly feels cramped living with her family, Beta shares a house with her ungrateful son who demands she pay part of the rent, and Carla is stuck in an old-age home -- the three women have been saving their money and plan to take a cruise around the world together. They've nearly reached their goal when they decide that hiding the money at home isn't safe, so they go to a bank to deposit their eight thousand marks in their bank accounts. While the three women wait in line to see the teller, a team of robbers stage a heist at the bank, taking their savings along with the funds from the bank vault. The bank's manager informs the women that since the money had not been officially deposited before it was stolen, it's not covered under the bank's insurance; outraged, and aware that they might not live long enough to save another eight thousand, the ladies decide to stage a robbery of their own to recover their savings and get revenge against the bankers. Jetzt Oder Nie: Zeit Ist Geldz received its North American premiere at the 2001 Palm Springs Film Festival; the film was shown under its English title, Now or Never. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A would-be illusionist tries to create some magic for himself and his friends in this comic road movie. Max (Til Schweiger) is a struggling professional magician who has a great act, once you get past the fact that most of his tricks don't work very well. One day, Max meets Hugo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio), a thief who boasts all the skill and expertise in his line of work that Max lacks in prestidigitation. Max is convinced he and Hugo would be an unbeatable combination in Las Vegas, so Hugo steals a van and they hit the road for Nevada, after convincing pretty waitress Lydia (Claire Forlani) to tag along as Max's assistant and Hugo's potential significant other. When the trio hits Las Vegas, they encounter Milo (Alan Arkin), a longtime magician and manager who thinks Max has the right stuff to be a success -- until he sees him perform. Magicians was directed by James Merendino, who previously directed the independent cult hit SLC Punk. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

It's said that love can change a man, but one woman finds herself wondering just how powerful love might be in this comedy. Cora Dulz (Corinna Harfouch) is a psychiatrist who begins working with Stanislaus Nagy (Til Schweiger), a good looking but mysterious man who is obsessed with the late operatic diva Maria Callas -- and claims to have been her mentor during the height of her career. Not surprisingly, Nagy admits he has a hard time separating truth from fiction, but for reasons even Dulz finds hard, she finds herself fascinated with her new patient, to the extent of following Nagy after appointments and pursuing a romance with him. As things look to become more serious between Nagy and Dulz, he decides to make a little confession to her -- he wasn't really Callas' mentor. Instead, Nagy announces, he is actually Satan himself, and Callas was the result of a project in which he attempted to create the perfect woman. Nagy's relationship with Callas was a failure, however, and he's decided he wants to give up his career as the Lord of Darkness and instead live out his days as a mortal man. In order to do that, Nagy would need to find a mortal woman willing to take his hand -- would Dulz be at all interested? ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Meciej Dejczer directed this German-French-Polish period drama made with English dialogue. British prisoner Gerry, aka Brute (Til Schweiger) is sent away to complete his sentence in a rundown Romanian orphanage run by sinister Sincal (Pete Postlethwaite), who profits by selling children and other evil activities. Crude operations are executed on patients by alcoholic surgeon Dr. Babits (John Hurt), who plays the violin. On the brighter side, a nubile nurse Mara (Polly Walker) is on the staff of this insidious institution, and she enters into an affair with Brute. Shown at the 1998 Montreal World Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Two terminal patients leave their hospital beds for the open highway in this German road movie, a popular success in Germany. When cancer victim Rudi (Jan Josef Liefers) meets Martin (Til Schweiger), who has a brain tumor, they knock back tequila one night and decide to head north to experience life at the seashore, something Rudi has hoped to do his entire life. However, the car they've stolen belongs to two thieves and contains a million marks. Soon they're being pursued by both thugs and cops. The film's soundtrack includes Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Shown at the 1997 London and AFI/Los Angeles film festivals. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

This German farce has fun parodying the local filmmaking industry and some its more popular stars as it tells the riotous tale of a neglected, lonely Munich housewife who writes a tawdry best-selling account of her sexual past. The situation begins when Franziska, the wife tires of hanging around the house raising two mischievous children while her husband the television director gallivants to far-flung locales sleeping with every actress in sight. She has a conversation with an understanding lawyer and through miscommunication ends up launching divorce proceedings. It is the lawyer who advises her to write down her erotic history. Later, an old high school flame turned publisher sees her manuscript and suggests she publish it as an erotic novel using a pseudonym. Things go swimmingly until her husband buys the film rights and decides to turn it into a trashy movie. This film was extremely popular in Germany. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi