Guest Author - Lisa Shea

German director Tom Tykwer brings back his star from Run Lola Run - Franka Potente - in this twisted tale of hopes and dreams.

Franka plays a woman who works at a mental institution. You see her daily life, caring for her patients, and you also see the daily life of a young man who lives with his brother and who cries a lot. Soon the two worlds converge when Franka is hit by a truck - and the young man is there to save her life.

Benno Furmann plays the crying man who is still getting over the death of his ex-wife. The last thing he needs is a new woman in his life - especially one who has turned the near death experience and months of recovery as a time to reevaluate her priorities.

Franka doesn't want to stalk Benno. She just wants to talk with him, to see if it was random chance or something more that caused her life to be spared. Benno doesn't want to think about anything - certainly not a female - but slowly his wall is brought down.

There are several quite strange plot twists here that are very forced. It turns out everything here is in a giant cosmic knot that connects together. One later revelation gives very disturbing overtones to an earlier sexual situation. The ending doesn't solve much - the couple runs off together, but they are fleeing a crime and leaving behind the man's dead brother.

If nothing else, this is one of the few movies that takes place within a mental institution and shows the daily life and work that goes on there.