Summer in Berlin 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.

For a film set during a sweltering season, precious little dramatic heat is brought to bear.

The movie tends to wander between story lines and characters without any real sense of purpose.

Summer avoids making its female protagonists too cute, shrewish or erotically challenged to be believable or bearable for two hours of cinematic comfort food.