"Echte Kerle" or "Regular Guys" is a 95-minute live action movie from 1996, so this one has its 20th anniversary this year. It is a German-language film, even if it says "Ruassian language" here on IMDb. The director and one of the two writers is Rolf Silber and it is certainly his most known work. This can also be said about pretty much the entire cast here, including supporting actor Tim Bergmann, who (for whatever reason) managed a German Film Award nomination for his work here. But he was really generic and stereotypical and certainly a bad choice to recognize this way. No surprise he has not received other nominations in his career. If anybody from the cast was somewhat above-average here, then it was lead actor Christoph M. Ohrt. But even he shines only because the rest of the cast is really weak and the material from the writers is also not good, so not too difficult to elevated it.Almost the only reason why this film is still somewhat known today is because it is a gay-themed movie. These usually are seen a lot in terms of quantity and the awards recognition the film got boosted this even more. Admittedly, I have seen many gay-themed films that are way inferior to this one, especially short film, but this should not mean that this was a good watch here. The 7.x rating it has here on IMDb is way too high. The story is absurd and unrealistic for the part, the performances are neither bold nor memorable and the writing overall feels generally very much uninspired. It was virtually impossible to care for any of the characters because what they did made rarely sense at all in terms of authenticity. The hammy approach or approach void of talent (in terms of Bergmann's case) makes it even pretty cringeworthy at times. But hey, it shows that you can be void of talent and still be nominated at the German Film Awards. Should give hope to all the struggling German actors out there. This "comedy" (the " because it's never really funny) film is all about relationship struggles, but I must say I never felt for the characters or cared for who gets together with whom. And the final plot twist is not helping things either, let alone the ridiculous idea that Ohrt's character possibly discovers his homosexuality from one day to the next. It is just never forking for a whole bunch of reasons and the script is all showy and hammy and offers almost zero substance. If you consider watching this film, then maybe you have seen already Sönke Wortmann's "Der bewegte Mann" from two years earlier and this one here feels like a cheap copy that went pretty wrong. I highly not recommend the watch and 4 out of 10 is still pretty generous.

A cool fun film. Rarely is a gay-themed movie interesting in it's entirety, and this one delivers. It's a contemporary story of a cop, a bit down on his luck, and where circumstances lead him, and how it changes his life and friends; all with good humor and fun. Perhaps it's not as slick as most Hollywood fare; but then Hollywood could never handle the sensitivity and characters of this story. Sure, you have to read subtitles, but the dialog is direct, intelligent, funny, and always moving this tale forward; so one quickly gets caught up in this story. With an easy-on-the-eyes cast, and some beefcake; whether you are gay, straight, or just confused, you're gonna like it.

I'm a fan of films that have more than just the usual action or slapstick comedy and I was pleasantly surprised by this gamble at the video store. The film kept me entertained with it's original plot and timeless themes. It's about a cop who, after being dumped and thrown out of his apartment by his fiancé, getting drunk, and waking up in the arms of Edgar, is forced to question his own sexuality and the prejudices that have long been a part of his life. I recommend this movie to anyone because, even though it deals with homosexuality, it is not a "gay film" and even despite a rather "picture perfect" ending, I found it delightful throughout.

The only copy I've seen was an all-region import disk from Kowloon; the subtitles which appear with Mandarin with English below, they are very sloppy, fading in and out, and not always jiving with the action. There are also lots of noticeable pops and crack in both score and screen.The story follows Christoph Schwenck, (or Schwenky, as some of the women he's bedded call him), a cop in some hard to pinpoint German town, who hits a streak of bad luck. More accurately is that he causes it himself. He prefers cruising the Autobahn and watching a football match to spending couple time with his lady, who proceeds to kick Schwenck to the curb, with his meager belongings in tow. For some hard to believe reason, there are apparently no rooms at nary an Inn, Boarding House or Brothel anywhere within like a hundred mile radius... With no place to stay, he proceeds to get tanked, lose all his possessions, and wake up the next morning in the bed of, as well as the arms of another man. YIKES! "What the *@!? did I just do?" He leaves not knowing how far things went, or even who this other dude is, for that matter.But alas, he returns to become this gay dude's straight roommate (only temporarily, he assures us) and this bizarre mènage à quatre develops between Schwenck, Edgar (gay roomie), longtime police pal (male), and new partner (female). Pretty much every imaginable embarrassing situation that can happen to Schwenck does, and he proceeds thru the picture from embarrassment, humiliation and fervent denials to almost coming to embrace being gay. But Schwencky is straight, and stays true to that till the end. He gets the girl in the end, and the original quartet reshuffle, recouple and drive off into the sunset.Not a bad flick, it's fun watching Christoph squirm and rebuff Edgar, who never seems to give up. Some scenes are pretty graphic, and arguably distateful, to say the least, but you come away liking and maybe even identifying with one (or more) of the quartet, and thinking a bit more about tolerance and understanding. Best luck finding on ebay or something similar, and worth adding to your collection if you are: a) gay, b) female, c) open minded; but don't spend too much. I'll probably not watch the thing repeatedly, but I'll almost definitely pass it along.