It takes less than five minutes from the top of the charts to the musical praise of furniture market special offers (“up to 70 percent on individual items”)! At the beginning of Florian Dietrich's “No Hit Wonder” we experience the career of the title-inspiring one-hit wonder Daniel Novak (Florian David Fitz) in fast forward: First his audience expands to the size of a stadium until it shrinks to the weekend shoppers who happen to be present. In addition to the glitter jacket, one song always remains the same: How long the film actually lasts after going to the cinema is a question – but at least the constantly blaring pop piece “Time, Time, Time” is definitely not something you can get out of your head so quickly, even after the credits have rolled.
Now it would be the definitive punch line if the absolutely authentic-sounding catchy tune written by Florian David Fitz especially for the film actually made it into the real charts, while the darkly humorous feel-good comedy itself failed at the box office. But that won't happen simply because of the screen duo Florian David Fitz (“Wochenendrebellen”) and Nora Tschirner (“Wunderschöner”) – especially since the premise also seems to be extremely suitable for the masses: a discarded pop star ends up in a closed psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide – and finds his way back to happiness there in a choir for mentally ill people. But speaking of luck: Luckily, “No Hit Wonder” isn’t quite as sweet as it sounds!
After his suicide attempt, ex-pop star Daniel (Florian David Fitz) is blackmailed by his psychotherapist into leading a happiness choir.
Because that's exactly where the psychotherapist Lissi (Nora Tschirner) comes into play. She needs a (scientific) hit herself quickly so that she doesn't have to continue to earn a living by changing bedpans despite having two (!) doctorates (although with this apartment she really doesn't have to complain given the current rental situation in Munich): When the former pop star is admitted to her ward, she sees her chance to carry out her already planned but so far failed financing happiness study with one to spice up the event with prominent participants so that it also becomes more exciting for the clinic's billion-dollar donors.
If necessary, lies and blackmail are used to get the stubborn celebrity patient to lead a choir of people with depressive illnesses – and then measure how many happiness hormones are released when they sing together. There are films like this about the potentially healing power of making music – from “Sister Act” to “Oh Happy Day!” to “Like in Heaven” and “The quiet and the big tones” – of course it’s a dime a dozen. But Nora Tschirner, with her pragmatic, dry manner, forms a wonderful counterpoint, who for a long time alone prevents “No Hit Wonder” from slipping too much into the direction of kitsch.
At first Daniel doesn't know what to do with all the depressed singers – but of course he grows from the situation too.
You can understand why screenwriter Florian David Fitz and director Florian Dietrich (“Toubab”) focus primarily on Daniel and Lissy and the star power of the two names at the top of the poster. But it's still a bit jarring how little space the usual choir members are sometimes given – so it sometimes seems as if they and their suffering are primarily there so that the protagonist duo can grow from them: When the grumpy regular taxi driver stops for his migrant singing colleague of all things in order to drive him home after rehearsal, that might be a touching moment in other films of growing together. But without any preparatory work, it just seems like another cliche component of the choir genre.
Although you definitely have to give “No Hit Wonder” credit that it doesn’t end with the obvious happy ending moment: After a cell phone clip of a rehearsal in an abandoned swimming pool goes viral, the choir is invited to appear on a late-night show (hosted by Sebastian Blomberg with a David Letterman memory mustache). But instead of a little fame making everything okay, the extra attention has exactly the opposite effect. From then on, “No Hit Wonder” commendably goes into particularly dark places, but at the same time loses its lightness. The unfortunate result: the tear-jerking finale seems less touching than rather thick.
Conclusion: For two thirds, “No Hit Wonder” maintains a harmonious, humorous balance between black humor and sweet upliftment, before the feel-good comedy threatens to collapse in the last third under its own state-supporting heaviness.