"Sein letztes Rennen" is my new favorite movie from 2013. I watched some of Didi Hallervorden's old films from the 1980s until 1990 quite a while ago and even his TV show "Die Nervensäge" in its entirety and while none of his works really wowed me, I always perceived him as a welcome presence with great comedic talent. What I watched from him, were mostly decent comedy films that were more goofy than hilarious in their entirety, but always offered a laugh here and there. Living in Berlin, I was amazed by how, at times, you could barely go a hundred meters without seeing some poster hanging somewhere that advertised Hallervorden's newest theater performance or comedic play for the upcoming weeks. That includes also Dirk Bach's final project, who sadly died briefly before its premiere. Anyway, now I checked Hallervordens filmography and I see that despite his theater work, he's also been quite present in movies recently. What a prolific man, truly impressive for somebody in their mid 70s.

Back to "Sein letztes Rennen": I'm quite a sucker for films on aging or people in the last phase of their lives. "Amour" and "Song for Marion" were among my 2012 favorites and this one here is right on par with them. Actually this film starts very light, but quickly diverges from being a decent comedy into drama territory. And man, does it step things up then and still it has a funny line or scene here and there. Hallervorden is truly a force of nature and he's pretty much on par for me right now with Geoffrey Rush in "The Best Offer" for best performance from 2013. He really nails his character perfectly, as a loving husband, as an unchallenged pensioner, as a determined athlete etc. He gets great support from Tatja Seibt, Heike Makatsch, Katharina Lorenz, Frederick Lau, Otto Mellies and Katrin Saß (as a lighter version of Nurse Ratched).

Anyway, I'm not scared to admit that I was bawling pretty much for the whole second half of the film. Hallervorden's performance and the whole film were just so endearing and sad at the same time. A true tear-jerker and everybody else I saw in the room reacted pretty much the same. Tears were shed everywhere and it reached a quantity where the room could have possibly saved an African village from dying from thirst, maybe the one that the nurse has gone to as we find out near the end. I can't really say what my favorite scene was as there's truly so many great ones. I think the first time I was really shaken was during the Beckmann interview when the camera closes in on Hallervorden's face at the end of the interview. Then of course there is the "This is no end here." "Yes it is. This is the end."-part, there's the nurse's speech about why she does what she does. Because nobody else does. Goddamnit, I'm tearing up already again. There's the scene when Makatsch's character says she always enjoys it so much when her parents tell about their memories after she knew her mother will be gone soon and the ensuing breakdown. There's the dialogs between Hallervorden's character and his wife where he keeps calling them the wind and the sea. There's of course the final scene at the stadium, which was definitely over the top, but in a great way, then afterward the sweet funny part with his grandchild and how he holds a clock next to it in order to hand his talent and willpower, but mostly the joy for his sport, on to the next generation. And when you think they can't even top it anymore, the ending credits feature Charles Trenet's "La Mer", a song I've adored for years. If there was anything that didn't appeal to me that much, it was the storyline of Makatsch's character and her colleague/partner, but it wasn't bad either. It was just that everything else was so great and this part was just good.

As you know by now, I thought this was a truly wonderful film that also teaches us a wise lesson on life at nursing homes. It was a bit of a coincidence that I saw it the very first day it was publicly released. I definitely planned to watch it at some point, but as I was busy the following days it fit perfectly to watch it right away. Afterward, I felt that there really was no other choice than to watch it the first day, because it was so damn good. Thank you Mr. Riedhof. Thank you Mr. Hallervorden. Thank you for these wonderful two hours of movie magic.

I like feel-good comedies and I'm a distance-runner myself, so when I heard about this film I was already sold: Ageing ex-marathon star Paule Averhoff goes for one last race, and no less than the Berlin marathon too (ok, the story plays in Berlin, so that's the most obvious goal).

Knowing Hallervorden as a comedian with the not-so-subtle approach, I thought this would turn out more on the comedy side, but I was completely wrong: This is a thoughtful, very quiet and touching story, with intense emotions and not that many laughs (but those well-earned). The scenes in the geriatric ward - complete with a musical protestant nazi nurse a bit prettier than Ratched - are claustrophobic and intense; every scene out of it felt like a relief. Dieter Hallervorden and Tatja Seibt as his wife show captivating performances; the only weaker parts of the film are those where we cut away to their daughter, played by Heike Makatsch - it's not her fault, it's just that it's not really her story and we would rather stay with Paule.

The final race scenes (the story itself goes on a wee bit longer) left me a bit nonplussed; I didn't get why he entered the stadium all alone - hardly fitting for the event and I don't think it would have taken away from the impact if there were some other runners by his side as during the previous kilometers. But overall, one of the best 2013 films! Highly recommended!

This is really a good movie, reminding especially German viewers how good an actor Dieter (Didi) Hallervorden actually is. The script helps a lot, even if you're younger you can relate to what's happening. And both sides (actually multiple sides) are portrayed evenly. There's a reason for the behavior of the people/characters at work here (no pun intended in that case).

Growing old and losing ones ability to do things is not easy. Especially accepting things as what they are or have become. But in this case it's about not stopping and overcoming obstacles. It's not like you don't know where this one is going (again no pun intended). But the way the material is treated and the acting goes hand in hand with the script to make a very touching movie!