Was das Herz begehrt

An unnecessarily drawn out standard romantic comedy that derives all its charm from the excellent central duo. (26.09.2005)

A feel-good, heartwarming romantic comedy with the pleasant Diane Keaton and again a similar and equally incredibly funny satire by Nicholson. In addition, the beautiful Amanda Peet once again, an atypical role for Reeves, and all of this in a story that truly looks "like real life" unlike many others. Symbolically, the best scene for me is when the restaurant guests are amazedly looking at Harry and his young girlfriend while he just spreads enjoyable smiles all around. (30.04.2006)

The film relies on the presence of two great names in American cinema. Granted, Nicholson can still exude charisma and Diane Keaton shows that one can age gracefully, without excessive plastic surgery, and still have spark and charm. The problem is they cannot carry the film on their own, and it needed a script prescribing quality dialogue and clever well-targeted humor. There are very few genuinely funny scenes, and they exhaust their potential quite quickly, at the latest halfway through the film. To top it all off, the film has the most banal happy ending in the spirit of classic Hollywood. Overall impression: 45%. (20.02.2014)

They say Nicholson is retiring from acting, so why not remind yourself of his genius today? An enjoyable romantic movie that comes across laid-back, calm and real. Diane Keaton literally shines, Jack plays a good second fiddle here. At the end I realized that I saw the end once before, without the beginning and the middle, hmh. (06.09.2013)

The first half hour is excellent, but it gradually falls into grey and mediocrity. Jack Nicholson, however, gives another excellent performance playing a very likeable guy. (30.05.2004)

I saw Jack Nicholson's name in the programme for this film, so I didn't hesitate and sat impatiently at the screen for a long time before it started. I liked the first half a lot, Master Jack gives his typically excellent performance almost beyond his limits and the film has a nice and fast flowing plot. Also, Diane Keaton is a great actress and contributes a lot to the successful comedy side of things. But then, the director seems to have suddenly run out of ideas, the humour is still present at times, but it’s not as effective and entertaining as it was at the beginning, and the story rather plods through the prolonged romantic scenes until the closing credits. Too bad, had it kept the quality and high pace of the first half, this comedy would have been rated better for sure. (13.05.2011)

God, how I hate the world of Nancy Meyers. The rich folk they meet on the way home from the farmers' market, hysterically solving their generic problems over the banquet table, sitting in cars and taxis for half the film, from which they move to fancy restaurants where they talk about how they want to be loved even though there's nothing to love about them because they're endlessly superficial and interchangeable. The emptiness of the characters here is perfected, framed by the excruciating overacting of virtually everyone, and it's downright painful to watch how the initial characterization of the characters doesn't work, for example, when you don't think for a second that the jaded and oily Jack Nicholson is a progressive hip-hop producer who cavorted with Amanda Peet. It's suffused with an utter weariness of values that tells us there's no point in trying to break out of your box, and stepping outside of expectations defined by age or status is an unnatural act of playing at something you're not. Total condemnation. Barf. (24.04.2018)