- I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about watching a German romantic comedy, but it turns out that I didn't have much to worry about with Maria Schrader's I'm Your Man. If this film is a comedy, it is only in the technical sense that it is not a tragedy. It's not even terribly romantic, considering that its protagonist Dr. Alma Felser (Maren Eggert) spends most of the film insisting to herself and the audience that she doesn't need any love in her life. The only reason she agreed to help test out a new romantic android named Tom (Dan Stevens) is that she needed the money to help fund her archaeology research. That makes sense, right?
- Much to Alma's surprise, Tom is everything his handler (Sandra Hüller) has promised and more. He's intelligent and charming and even corrects his mistakes more readily and rapidly than any human boyfriend ever would. In fact, one imagines that Alma is constantly comparing Tom to her human ex-boyfriend Julian (Hans Löw), who has since upgraded to his own newer model. Despite Tom's best efforts, though, Alma makes every effort to repulse him, much as she does everyone else. There are further subplots involving a miscarriage and Alma's senile father (Wolfgang Hübsch), but they are hardly enough to explain Alma's various life problems.
- And it is that characterization of Alma, more than anything, that is the main problem with I'm Your Man. She's obviously intentionally written and portrayed as an unlikeable and unsympathetic character, which makes her...well, unlikeable and unsympathetic. Of course there are real people like that in the world, but to be honest I don't like them much, either. The only thing worse would be if the film concluded by weaving in some heavy German pseudo-philosophy, which also happens. It's a shame, too, because the film's acting is excellent, Schrader's direction is strong, and the cinematography (by Benedict Neuenfels) is impressive. But if you have to watch one German film about a robot, watch Metropolis instead.
