Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Helden wie wir" is a German 90-minute movie from 1999, so two more years until this one has its 20th anniversary. The director is Sebastian Peterson and he also worked on the script, together with Thomas Brussig. While Brussig is more known for NVA and Sonnenallee, this is probably the most known work for Peterson. With these titles mentioned already, you probably can guess the direction where this is heading. Yes this is another movie about the GDR, actually mostly about the final days of the GDR and we find out early on that the protagonist says he is responsible for the end of the GDR and the rest of the film basically explains why he would say something like that and how it may be true, at least from his perspective. Add in relationship plots with parents, a love interest and friends and you have the essence of this film. I would maybe say that the romance part is maybe the best thing during these 1.5 hours, but it is nothing too great either. It only sticks out because the rest is really weak. Honestly when the film focuses on stuff like the blood transfusion that is really over-the-top and highly unrealistic, then you need the film to deliver as a comedy as really as a drama or history movie it cannot be taken seriously anymore. Sadly, it is almost never funny and most of the time the attempts to be funny and entertaining are extremely unsuccessful. There are still some solid references, which is why I would say that it wasn't too bad, certainly not a failure, but there is also absolutely nothing in here that makes the film stand out from the huge quantity of forgettable and mediocre GDR-themed films. Still with the subject and the approach at comedy, I am somewhat surprised the film is not more known today because subject and jokes-wise I could see it as something that general audiences would care for. Quality is not the decisive factor in that statement. Actually, lack of quality may even be closer if we see people care about Schweighöfer and M'Barek comedies these days. Maybe it came out too early already? Or it is because the cast really includes almost nobody that is known even in Germany today, apart from Gojko Mitic perhaps or the late Achim Mentzel (playing himself) in roles that have very little screen time. All in all, "Heroes Like Us" is not a heroic film by any means and not a good one either. I give it a thumbs-down and suggest you skip it unless you really are into seeing everything GDR-related from Germany. This is no Goodbye Lenin (and I am not even a particularly big fan of the latter).
