Sams im Glück (2012)

Ten years have passed since the events of the second film. When the Taschenbiers want to celebrate this anniversary with their friends, a storm blows in, which Mr. Taschenbier wishes away with his last wish-point. Shortly afterward, Mr. Taschenbier shows Sams his latest invention: an umbrella-making machine that can produce whole umbrellas at the push of a button. In a role-play exercise, Mr. Taschenbier wants to practice with Sams how to explain to his boss, Mr. Oberstein, that he plans to leave the company and start his own business using the machine. At that moment, Sams is teleported against its will to the world of the Sams. The Über-Sams explains that, according to the Sams rules, Sams can stay in the presence of humans for a maximum of ten years and ten days at a time. Sams knows a trick, however, that will let it teleport back to the Taschenbiers. In answer to the youngest Sams’s question, the Über-Sams explains that if this rule is broken, Mr. Taschenbier will turn into a Sams. Meanwhile, Mr. Taschenbier has his meeting with Mr. Oberstein, but cannot summon the courage to say that he wants to resign. Just as he is about to leave the office, his Sams personality takes over for the first time. In an uncharacteristically manic and cheeky manner, he submits his resignation and draws a sketch of the umbrella machine on the wall of Mr. Oberstein’s office. Shortly afterward, though, he is himself again and cannot remember what he did as a Sams. Meanwhile, Mr. Mon wants to teach his parrots to say, “Annemarie, more beautiful than ever,” so he can surprise his wife. The surprise goes wrong, however, because the birds only say swear words. Over the next few days, Mr. Taschenbier repeatedly has episodes as a Sams. One night, for instance, he raids the refrigerator (for which Sams is later blamed); on another occasion, he hijacks a bus. Although Margarete knows nothing about these incidents, she notices that her husband has changed and takes him to see a doctor. Sams also notices its “Papa’s” behavior. The following night, it teleports back to the world of the Sams and steals the book of Sams rules from the sleeping Über-Sams. Back on Earth, Sams learns that its “Papa” is turning into a Sams. It examines Mr. Taschenbier’s hair but at first finds nothing unusual. Then Mr. Taschenbier suddenly switches into his Sams form, and several red streaks appear on the back of his head. Sams is initially delighted to have a new playmate. On the next full-moon night, Sams gets new wish-points, and Sams-Taschenbier wishes himself into a chocolate factory, where he happily helps himself to the chocolate. There, however, he is arrested by the police and confronted with both the break-in and the bus hijacking. Meanwhile, the Über-Sams has noticed that its book has been stolen. Since it cannot use the trick that Mr. Taschenbier’s Sams used, it follows the youngest Sams’s suggestion and uses the other Samses’ wish-points to wish itself to the Taschenbiers. Things get out of control there: Mr. Taschenbier is taken to prison, where, in his Sams form, he holds his own against his fellow inmate Hammer-Paule and breaks out. Outside his front door, he meets Sams again, but two police officers stop him. He wishes for the police to let him go and for all the evidence photos of his crimes to disappear, then turns back into himself. Shortly afterward, at the doctor’s, he switches into his Sams form in front of his wife. Later, he overloads his modified umbrella machine, which blows apart the attic and sends umbrellas raining down, but then stops working properly. Sams has to admit that things cannot go on this way. The next day, it plans to tell its Papa what is happening to him. However, Mr. Oberstein has announced that he will visit that day. To save face, Mr. Taschenbier, as a Sams, wishes for Mr. and Mrs. Mon to appear during the visit as Arab sheikhs and supposed sponsors, and for Sams to remain motionless and silent in its room. Meanwhile, Mr. Mon rides grandly through the city on a camel, carrying Herr Kules in his arms. Despite the wish, Sams manages to make Margarete understand through gestures that there is an emergency. During the conversation, in which Mr. Oberstein is impressed by the supposed sheikhs and Mr. Taschenbier’s knowledge of Arabic, Margarete appears. At that moment, Mr. Taschenbier stops being a Sams, and the wish wears off, exposing the Mons. Mr. Oberstein is bitterly disappointed. That night, Margarete weeps over what has happened. Just as Sams is about to explain the situation to her in front of Mr. Taschenbier, Margarete suddenly throws a plate across the room and starts laughing like a madwoman. Sams spots a red streak in her hair and realizes that her transformation is beginning too. When she becomes herself again, Sams explains everything to them both. Unfortunately, no solution to the problem is apparent, since the Sams rules cannot be tested using wish-points. The Über-Sams turns up at the Taschenbiers’ and says the rule can be tested by having all three of them climb onto the roof on a Wednesday during a full moon and say “Hcowttim.” But the Über-Sams has deceived them: the ritual merely sends it, along with its book, back to the world of the Sams. To spare the Taschenbiers from turning into Sams, Sams leaves them of its own accord. In the world of the Sams, it is so overcome with grief that it even cries, something Sams are not supposed to be able to do. The most important of all the Sams rules says that if a Sams does cry, it gets one wish. And so Sams wishes that it can stay with the Taschenbiers forever, with new wish-points, without them turning into Sams. On Earth, the reunion is joyful. Later, Mr. Taschenbier uses a wish-point to restore his standing with Mr. Oberstein. Sams announces that it is the Sams in Luck.