Off Beat (2004)

"Crash" isn't his name, but it's what they call him. Orphaned at the age of seven after a car accident killed both of his parents, Crash grew up with a scar on his face and a scar in his soul. A fear of intimacy has turned him into a melancholy loner; a longing to help others has led him to become a medic on a rescue team. When he's not out on the streets saving lives, he dreams. Of escaping. Of finding the young woman who always appears just before he wakes. One night, he comes face to face with the woman of his dreams: November is her name, her boyfriend has just died of an overdose, and she's a good eight months pregnant. But she's ready to go on with her life. And she makes Crash realize that he, too, has a life – one of his own, not just the one he is living for others. As he and November fall in love, Crash begins to feel something like happiness and hope. And when fate seems about to repeat itself, it is up to him to choose between leaving everything behind or grabbing his new life with both hands. IMDB

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This is a near perfect film Hoelzemann might have a great future as a German film maker. The plot is subtle, the dialogs witty and understated, the acting, in particular by Schweighoefer and Kremp, great. Schweighoefer is a charismatic actor on who this film is built – my wife commented that his presence reminded her of James Dean. To me the psychology of the human relations was more important than the actions – the opposite of how Hollywood movies usually proceed. The scene with the suicidal girl on the roof – the Cologne cathedral in the background – is a game of life and death that keeps you breathless. Were it not for some sentimental, heavy scenes (in particular between November and Crash), I would rate it 10. IMDB Reviewer

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