Männersache (2009)

Berlin, 1991: Paul and his best friend Hotte swear to be friends forever. Today, Paul works in a pet shop and lives with his father, Rudi. On some evenings, he performs as a comedian in a small pub, but with little success—until he starts telling jokes about his friend Hotte and Hotte’s girlfriend, Susi. The jokes take a toll on his relationship with Hotte, and Susi, who already thinks little of Paul, is now even more annoyed with him. A newspaper article that Susi has published in her anger at Paul leads to a fight between Paul and Hotte. Paul later also sees a TV interview in which Hotte questions his friendship with Paul. Hotte and Paul fall out. The sleazy manager Heinz König takes an interest in Paul and offers to represent him. With Heinz’s help and his jokes about Hotte and Susi, Paul now becomes successful and can fill entire halls in no time. After a chance encounter outside a nightclub, Paul and Susi, both heavily drunk, spend the night together. Paul’s father, Rudi, dislikes the changes in Paul and hires a Russian mafia boss to intimidate Paul’s manager and keep him away from Paul. Paul and Rudi have an argument, after which Rudi suffers a collapse shortly afterward. Hotte happens to find him and takes him to the hospital. Paul has just realized that his manager is cheating him, and leaves a major TV show before his appearance to rush to the hospital. At Rudi’s bedside, father and son reconcile, and Hotte and Paul race toward the TV show in Susi’s car. Paul is supposed to make the big appearance he has been dreaming of for a long time. On the way, however, Paul confesses to Hotte that he spent the night with Susi. Hotte punches Paul in the face. But afterward, he is able to forgive Paul, since Susi has already told him that nothing happened between them apart from a kiss. Given the choice by Hotte between having a beer with him at the pub or going back to the TV studio, Paul chooses his friend Hotte over his career. At the end, they celebrate together with Rudi and Susi on the roof of their apartment building.