Summer in Berlin (2005)

Andreas Dresen's microscopic examination of the humdrum lives of Katrin (Inka Friedrich) and Nike (Nadja Uhl), best friends who live in the same Berlin apartment building, is a pointedly unglamorous slice of life that could be set in any urban neighborhood where real estate prices haven't gone through the roof. Low-key realism is so meticulously maintained that "Summer in Berlin" feels somewhat trivial. There is nothing larger here than meets the eye. It is "Sex and the City" on a stringent budget with fewer characters, in which Mr. Big is Mr. Sneaky Loser, and the only coveted shoes are the 120-euro running sneakers Max desperately desires but his mother can't afford.