Loose Ends

This winning German slice-of-life is about the effects that a lothario's unexpected return to the scene of his many amorous crimes has on the lives of his past lovers. Love-'em-and-leave-'em unemployed actor Nick (Andreas Herder) is just back from America after a four year absence, much to the consternation of the last of the many women he abandoned, restaurateur Katherine (Natascha Bub). Katherine's enmity morphs into ambivalence, and then rekindled romantic interest, but pretty boy Nick has already wiled his way into the bed of Katherine's best friend, Sara (Regula Grauwiller). Complications ensue. An excellent drama with as much humor as heartache, Loose Ends is uniformly well acted by a fine ensemble cast. The technical credits are generally good in this admittedly grainy 16mm production, and the white English subtitles are clear and well set off, though peppered with grammatical and spelling errors. Highly recommended. (S. C. Sickles)