What a Man (2011 film)

Plot

30-year-old Alex discovers that his girlfriend Carolin has an affair with their neighbour, photographer Jens, and is forced to move out of their shared flat. He moves in with his friend, animal welfare activist Nele who has a long-distance-relationship with her French boyfriend Etienne who lives in China. Alex tries to find out why his relationship with Carolin failed and what actually constitutes a man. Meanwhile he and Nele who were in love with each other since primary school fall in love again.

Cast

Reception in the United States

Aaron Coleman of Backstage found "copying its American counterparts" made the film "warmly endearing".
Farran Smith Nehme New York Post felt the plot was predictable and added "even the camera work is predictable".
Calhoun Kersten of www.filmmonthly.com called this film "so disarmingly charming that its faults don’t stop it from being an incredibly enjoyable film", no matter whether "you feel like you’ve seen it all before".
Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter judged that despite "its slavish adherence to familiar genre conventions" the film provided "reasonably fun viewing" because of its "off-kilter humor" and the "chemistry exhibited by Schweighofer and Kekilli".
Sandrine Sahakians of www.filmequals.com recommended the film to "anyone looking to put a smile on their faces".
Andy Webster of the New York Times conceded What a Man possibly quoted some well-known patterns but added "its sureness of tone" made Schweighöfer "a talent to watch".