Utta Danella: Wer küsst den Doc? (2013)

Anna Maria Binz works as an assistant at Dr. Leander Winter’s dental practice in the quiet town of Schliersee. She is secretly in love with her boss, but ever since his wife Franziska left him for a younger man, he has kept women at a distance. The only one who receives his affection is his dog. One day, Leander gets a call from his daughter Emily, who is also a dentist. They have not seen each other for some time, so Leander is surprised when she tells him that she and her fiancé, Roberto, will show up at his house that evening. The occasion is the couple’s wedding, which is due to take place the following weekend. To avoid overwhelming Leander, Emily keeps her pregnancy from him. Instead, she tells him that Franziska and her boyfriend will also be coming to Schliersee for the wedding. To make a better impression on his ex-wife, Leander asks Anna Maria to pretend to be his girlfriend for a few days. Anna Maria agrees. Leander’s first meeting with Emily and Roberto is peaceful at first, but the mood changes abruptly when Leander learns that Emily and Roberto plan to live in Florence after getting married, meaning that Emily will not be taking over his practice, as he has long expected. When he learns that Emily is pregnant, Leander vehemently opposes the marriage. Among other things, he fears that Emily wants to marry only because of the baby. Anna Maria manages, with some difficulty, to smooth things over and persuade Roberto not to leave immediately. The young couple has already realized that Anna Maria truly loves Leander, which gives Roberto a reason to stay. Meanwhile, Leander is panicking because Franziska could arrive at any moment. So he and Anna Maria head to the nearest town to buy him some new clothes. To impress Franziska, he also spontaneously buys a new convertible. However, Franziska comes to the wedding alone; her boyfriend left her for a younger woman some time ago, and she can imagine returning to Leander. But Leander increasingly behaves as though Anna Maria is no longer there, even though at certain moments he goes out of his way to put their supposed “romantic happiness” on display, especially in front of Franziska. At the same time, he tries by every means to prevent Emily and Roberto’s wedding, and eventually even bribes the registrar to refuse to marry them on the grounds of a procedural error. Anna Maria discovers the plan and ensures the wedding goes ahead as scheduled. She also gives Leander a stern talking-to. He realizes that his daughter does not want to marry only because of the baby, and accepts the planned wedding. Over dinner together, he apologizes to Emily and Roberto, and to Anna Maria as well, explaining that she is really only his assistant and had played his girlfriend solely for his sake. Anna Maria leaves the restaurant sadly. The next day, she quits the practice and retreats to her sister’s mountain restaurant, where she starts working as a waitress. Only gradually does Leander realize that Anna Maria was more to him than just his assistant. He misses her, and even his ex-wife realizes that he loves Anna Maria and that Anna Maria has always loved him too. In time, Leander overcomes his fear of heights and takes the lift to the mountain restaurant, where he confesses his love to Anna Maria. They will now attend Emily and Roberto’s wedding together as planned—not as a pretend couple, but as a real couple with wedding plans of their own.