LOVEní

Heiligabend ungeplant mit Filmen von Karel Jandák, und so wie im Fall des Märchens kann ich auch im Fall dieser Komödie Zufriedenheit vermelden. Es überrascht mich die so niedrige Wertung, es ist keine Komödie voller Peinlichkeiten außer Richards verrückter Freundin, Ja, es ist vorhersehbar, doch die Realität der heutigen Dating-Agenturen und der Verrücktheit wurde in dem leicht übertriebenen Stil recht wahrheitsgetreu zum Ausdruck gebracht. Ester Geislerová erblüht in Schönheit, und Jaroslav Plesl enttäuscht nie, aber auch wirklich nie. (25.12.2019)

Mehr von Janáks sterilem Unsinn, den Evelyn Kramerová aus purer Verzweiflung versuchte besser zu machen. Andererseits hätte das auch eine Romantikkomödie voller willkommener Klischees über ein Mädchen sein können, das während einer Hochzeitszeremonie abserviert wird. Aber dann dürfte Ester die Hauptrolle nicht wie ein toter Fisch spielen, und das Drehbuch müsste einen Sinn ergeben. Zufälle, Irrtümer, Träume, alles auf einem Haufen, und jede weitere Windung schnürt die Kehle ab. (16.09.2019)

Karel Janák has his own distinctive way of storytelling which can in one case come across as stupid and is stupid... and at other times comes across as stupid but is bearable. Lovehunt is the latter, nevertheless I had to think long and hard to form my opinion. And I don’t suppose that I am some kind of nagging critic that looks for faults on purpose in every Czech movie just to make it look bad. On one hand I don’t think that Lovehunt is a successful romantic comedy. There were cringe-worthy moments in which I literally had to close my eyes and wished I would never have to see them. On the other hand, the story itself has something to it. Ester Geislerová and Jakub Prachař complement each other amusingly and when I think about it in the context of a romantic comedy, I even laughed from time to time. But still I wonder why the director, who filmed the teenage comedy Snowboarders about a thousand years ago, would nowadays film this would-be adult romantic comedy in a similar way. (07.01.2020)

Apparently, I still keep a certain level of naivety, because deep down I was secretly hoping to get a quality Czech comedy. Well, I didn’t... In a way, almost all romantic comedies are the same – the plot is painfully predictable. LOVEhunt was no exception. It was clear from the beginning who would end up with whom. There was obviously a number of obstacles, which was to be expected. The problem was that the film was really cringeworthy at times. I like Evelyn as a comedian, but as Eva Kramerová, the actress, she was very unconvincing. I didn't understand the character of Eva played by Romana Goščíková at all and I was far from satisfied, but... the film also managed to entertain me at times, Ester Geislerová gave a great performance (her eyelid twitch at the wedding was perfect), Jaroslav Plesl totally nailed his small role, and Jakub Prachař’s performance was a nice surprise as well. (29.07.2019)