It’s a tough fate for a male movie star to always be reduced to his body. You can’t even imagine how degrading it feels to be undressed by the eyes of the fans. But Elyas M’Barek is of course a very sensitive XY chromosome carrier, a model member of the patriarchy. In the meantime, ironically, he’s almost the Elder Statesman of German comedy. That would be a role that would really cause a sensation: Elyas M’Barek as an unpaid sex slave in a feminist off-theatre.

For now, though, you’ll have to be content with appearing as a feminist stand-up comedian. Incidentally, M’Barek makes the joke about the sex slave himself in Anika Decker’s romantic comedy “Liebesdings”.

The depressive star Marvin Bosch (guy: boy with a difficult childhood), with the female fans at his feet, flees from the gossip press (Alexandra Maria Lara) from the premiere of his new film, ends up in a Berlin backyard where a feminist theater collective is taking over the sexually frustrated Frieda (Lucie Heinze) is performing a dance number in tampon costumes. Not only Elyas M’Barek is briefly irritated. So far everything still looks right in “Liebesdings”, even if the film location Berlin always makes one think of green screens in German cinemas.

The stale jokes and the stereotypical gay characters that are reminiscent of Decker’s screenplay for Detlev Buck’s Charley’s aunt cut “Rubbeldiekatz” – given. After “Liebesdings” one wishes above all that M’Barek finally moves out of his humor comfort zone (or that of the romantic woman understander). Just hit the shit really rudely – when people are already talking about sex all the time anyway. You can feel in almost every scene that this could not only have an enormously liberating effect for M’Barek – the German mainstream comedy also urgently needs such an awakening experience. “Love things” is only the clamp variant.

The fact that Frieda has secret gangbang fantasies is the most surprising script idea; M’Barek keeps his shirt on when he has sex with Marvin. For the movie star having a problem with his heartthrob image, Liebesdings stays strikingly true to the romantic comedy paradigm. Why doesn’t German film even create a comedy like “Funny People”, in which Adam Sandler quite drastically overstretches his own image?

Elyas M’Barek wears a clitoral mask at a queer party in “Liebesdings”. There are funny promo pictures – Constantin otherwise advertises her film primarily with the actresses – but the diversity campaign in German cinema unfortunately boggles at this level for over a hundred minutes. Carolin Kebekus’ television routines are more scathing than the stand-up jokes on the underground comedy stage. At least you have to give Anika Decker the credit that she is serious and doesn’t – like the comedy specialist Sönke Wortmann – always anticipate the corresponding resentment in order to then demonstrate it. In “Liebesdings” gender is already used without a wink.