Maybe, Maybe Not (1994)

  Our little odyssey through one hundred years of German cinema is drawing to a close.  We're now in the reunification period of the early 90s, a terrible decade.  After producing about thirty years of avant-garde government-subsidized cinema, German directors said "Fuck it, let's make money!" and started copying Hollywood in earnest.  That gives us this "relationship comedy" that is somehow better and worse than its American counterpart.

Axel (Til Schweiger) is one of those guys that never really seems to do much but somehow always lands on his feet.  After his girlfriend, Doro (Katja Riemann), kicks him out of their apartment for once again cheating on her with another woman, Axel is in desperate need of a place to stay.  One of his buddies runs a men's group for sad-sacks terrified of their girlfriends/wives and hiding it with fake  enthusiasm for feminism.  They invited Walter (Rufus Beck) to provide perspective from the gay man's viewpoint.  Walter takes one look at Axel and starts plotting.  First, he invites Axel to a drag show, then pours liquor into him like it's going out of style.  Axel, fearing a trap, announces that he is going to live with Walter's friend Norbert (Joachim Krol), a sweet, slightly befuddled man who keeps getting taking advantage of by his boyfriends.  This sparks an unlikely friendship.  Norbert thinks there might be more to it, but things are complicated by Doro being pregnant and Axel being a total idiot.

Seriously, I think everyone knows at least one person like Axel who seems to skate by on looks even when they're short on brains, falling into one piece of good fortune after another and always leaving someone else holding the tab.  Best case, they're entertaining yet infuriating.  Worst case, they're manipulative assholes.  Axel falls towards the entertaining end of the spectrum but he's not really the main character here.  How can he be, when he demonstrates virtually zero growth over the runtime?  Norbert is the reluctant lead, finally learning to stick up for himself after having to deal with one bullshit scenario perpetuated by Axel after another.

The humor is broad and rather crass, with a hefty amount of generalizations about gay men (like, all gay men do drag or are Leather Daddies).  But it does show more fluidity in sexuality than American films even in the last few years.  So, plus and minus.

It is a rom-com from the 90s, which means it's totally bonkers anyway.  If you can find it, it's worth a watch.  I'm personally going to try and order a copy for Christy.  She needs this in her life.