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just a reviewer wrote on 01/24/2012:

(( This is a 3 + 1/2 STAR Rating ))

"Romeos"....it's a Carefree title....a Fun title. BUT, buckle up your seatbelts and hold on....for the ride you're about to be taken on is, often, neither carefree or fun. Why is that? Because, over and over, you'll be asking yourself: HOW is this young guy...this Rick Okon, from a little town in the Northeast fringes of Germany, able to drag us inch by inch by inch into all his emotional turmoil: His shyness...his physical discomfort...his fear of discovery...his beginnings of love? And while doing so with little more than his body hugging/protecting mannerisms...his facial expressions...and those EYES. Well, the answer is just something you'll have to figure out after the trip. For each of us, it will have been different.

But...forget the "HOW" we've just discussed. More important is the "WHAT"....for what we are being given here is a Near-Equal to the Oscar winning Best Actor performance in 1999's "Boys Don't Cry". That time, Hilary Swank.....this time, a rising German star. As transgendering Lukas, a young Okon takes us along on an important part of his journey through the swirling emotions of Hormone Replacement Therapy, into complete physical transformation from female-to-male. BUT....in this instance, unlike in other films, the end goal is to find a same-sex (Male / Male) relationship. About which, please note the following:

(( I can talk about this movie's particular sex change circumstances in no better way than to partially quote another reviewer of the film at Imdb.com. "nnenok" of Slovenia says, in part: "What is important here, and what THIS movie does so well, is to deal with a topic so problematic for any transgendered person who is attracted to someone of the SAME gender---and that is: How to explain to others that being attracted to a woman doesn't make you a man - but FEELING like a man does." ))

So, maybe "Boys Don't Cry". Yet...perhaps at times you'll be brought to the verge of doing so. For what we are seeing is a near breath-taking and heart wrenching performance (I often recall James Dean), about a young German who has fallen for a macho Lover-Boy type. Yes, yes, Maximilian Befort, as Fabio, has a face and body which will keep your dreams HOT for days. A Lover-Boy?...sure. A Sex Bomb?...you bet. In fact, he's Sex on a Stick! Yet, despite acting self-centered and forever off to the next conquest, his scenes with Lukas are always exciting ones....giving us a gut feel for the Fever which is developing between these 2, a Fever always tempered by fear of Fabio discovering the hidden transgendered condition.

As to Fabio's side of this relationship, he is kept almost always in a perplexed state: Lukas being turned-on by him....quickly followed by instances of Lukas shutting Fabio down. Still, hard as it is to live with the emotional changes being thrown at him....Fabio keeps trying, keeps coming back for more. (Leading to this Reviewers opinion that Lukas has him hooked....letting the line out, then pulling it back--even if not aware he's doing so).

And so, I TRULY BELIEVE the final lovemaking scene confirms something for us; oh, yes indeed, it does. But that is not half as much as we are told by the last few seconds shot, wherein we are watching through the lens of a digital camera...and seeing: A deliriously happy, and completely transgendered Lukas, taking off running through seaside sand dunes toward water's edge. Come on, now....STOP AND THINK! That CAN'T be all we're seeing. Cause you know what? SOMEONE is holding that camera....You wanna take any bets as to WHO?

Enjoy this Special Movie....And, thank you, Sabine.

PS--And amidst all the turmoil...Thank Heavens for the occasional fun, lightness, and warm support given by terrific young actress, Liv Lisa Fries, as "Ine"...the B(Girl)FF of our Lukas during their growing-up years.

ponyboy62 wrote on 10/27/2011:

I recently saw this incredible film in the theatre and cant wait for the dvd! Its totally amazing! GREAT cast that i could fall in love with, amazing story that tugs at the heart strings and over all an A+ winner of a film! Rick Okon that plays LUKAS is simply STUNNING! His performance will blow your mind! This movie will open your eyes in a whole new light! SEE THIS FILM - OWN THIS DVD!!!!!!!!!!!! :~)

Amos Lassen wrote on 09/29/2011:

Sabine Bernardi’s “Romeos” is set in a very hot German summer. Twenty year old Lukas (Rick Okon) has just come for his year of civil service and he just had his 25th shot of testosterone and his saving up for sexual reassignment surgery. His life seems to be going good until he is assigned to a woman’s dormitory just when he falls for a very hot guy, Fabio (Maximillian Befort). When members of Lukas’s family come to visit for his birthday, everything between the two is shaken. Lukas is slowly gaining confidence about who he is and it appears that his hormones are ruling him.

Okon is brilliant as Lukas and he is inviting as well as off putting. There are a lot of complications and twists and turns and we see that Lukas just cannot find the support that he needs. This is an interesting look at a topic that we do not often see in film and a welcome addition to the canon of LGBT film.