Oh Tannenbaum (2007)

The grumpy and unlikeable lawyer Dr. Wagner is unpopular with his colleagues and neighbors alike. When he comes home from his law office on Christmas Eve, the plumber has just finished making a change to the bathroom in Wagner’s penthouse, as Wagner had requested. While Wagner goes for a relaxing jog around town, disaster strikes in his bathroom. A water pipe bursts, flooding all the apartments below in the multi-story building he rents out. Most of his tenants are away for the Christmas holidays. Only Rita Niemann and David Soost have to deal with the situation, and they promptly decide to move upstairs to Wagner’s place until their apartments are habitable again. Dr. Wagner is not at all pleased: he feels that his unexpected subtenants are invading his privacy and, on top of that, keeping him from his work. But Rita and her family, as well as David and his friend Stevie, refuse to end the siege, and make arrangements for Christmas Eve without Wagner’s help. Even the police officers he summons to deal with the trespassing are charmed by Rita. Wagner is beside himself and continues to fear for the peace and quiet he is used to. And with good reason, because there is no longer any chance of working. His neighbors put up a Christmas tree, take over the kitchen, and even the hallway has been commandeered as a play area by Rita’s grandson. Wagner flees to his office in a panic, only to discover in dismay that he cannot work there over the holidays either: the office is using the time for a software update, and he cannot access the computer system. Back in his occupied apartment, he slowly begins to adjust to the new situation and comes to appreciate the advantages of a freshly cooked meal over his usual microwave dinners. He also gradually begins to take an interest in his tenants’ worries. Rita is anxiously awaiting a medical lab report, while David is having relationship problems with his friend Stevie, who wants to jump off the roof—a plan Wagner fortunately manages to prevent. When the courier finally arrives with the letter and Rita, delighted by the good result for her, invites him to have a glass of wine, it turns out that the young man is Wagner’s son. The two had lost touch after Wagner’s wife died, and Rita thinks Christmas would be a good opportunity for the two men to talk things out. It takes some effort, but they manage it, just as Rita herself finally talks things out with her mother. There is a happy ending for Rita’s daughter Sophia, too: Wagner’s son takes a liking to her and accompanies her and her son home.