For a tv movie its actually pretty good
Second part is well done, too
4 Reviews
Atmospheric thriller
cantujini3 April 2022
Atmospheric crime thriller with believable characters. Especially Ostrowski and Leuenberger play great. The working principle is simple, the dramaturgy nevertheless complex, and the characters, who are not cast according to a pattern, are also both morally highly ambivalent.
Good Thriller
crumpytv22 September 2023
A policewoman from Berlin begins a new life in Passau with her adopted daughter under a new identity and under the care of witness protection.
I thought this was the first of a serial, but it appears as a standalone TV movie on IMDB, but there are three further episodes which follow on closely from this first epsiode.
I enjoyed it.
There were a few things all going on at the same time which inevitably started to come together, but the story was good.
Yet another female lead (Marie Leuenberger), but she was quite believable. The main lead male character was played by Michael Ostrowski, a slightly comedic private detective.
The location close to the German/Austrian border was scenic and interesting.
Episodes 2 and 3 continue the major plotline and episode 4 is full of suspense.
In episodes 2 and 3 there is an excellent comedic performance by Xenia Tiling as the new "try too hard" police inspector.
I thought this was the first of a serial, but it appears as a standalone TV movie on IMDB, but there are three further episodes which follow on closely from this first epsiode.
I enjoyed it.
There were a few things all going on at the same time which inevitably started to come together, but the story was good.
Yet another female lead (Marie Leuenberger), but she was quite believable. The main lead male character was played by Michael Ostrowski, a slightly comedic private detective.
The location close to the German/Austrian border was scenic and interesting.
Episodes 2 and 3 continue the major plotline and episode 4 is full of suspense.
In episodes 2 and 3 there is an excellent comedic performance by Xenia Tiling as the new "try too hard" police inspector.
Goes for gritty crime story, the outcome is the opposite.
Horst_In_Translation1 October 2020
Warning: Spoilers
"Freund oder Feind. Ein Krimi aus Passau", which means "Friend or Foe: A crime movie from Passau", is a German television film from 2020. Actually, these 1.5 hours had their TV premiere today, even if it has been possible to watch them online already for a couple days. As you can see, this is another of these crime films with focus on German regions and they have made quite a few of those recently. Well, "recently" because it's been a decade or so already, maybe even more since the wave started. Some of them are actually pretty funny, the Eberhofer films in fact that take place not too far away from this film here. But quality-wise, the difference could not be any bigger. This one here is not really going for the comedy component, but instead tries to be a tough crime movie. It goes all kinds of wrong. First things first: The director is Maurice Hübner, an award-winning filmmaker and this is his first full feature film after lots of work on short films and series. He is an award-winning filmmaker too, so it's disappointing he launches his film career with this weak outcome. At least things can only get better. The screenplay is by Michael Vershinin and as he is almost 60, you'd think he would be more experienced, but not really. He has been pretty prolific in the last 10 years, but (according to imdb) did nothing atg all before that, so certainly a late bloomer. Well, not really a bloomer at all. His body of work is all kinds of forgettable and weak, so no surprise this one turned out so terrible. You can see the ambition everywhere, but the talent simply is not there. This also applies to the cast. Marie Leuenberger is the lead and I was totally unimpressed by her. Three different face expressions max. She plays a former cop who is now in witness protection together with another character and we follow their lives at their new home where their identities seem to be no longer a secret to some. Nadja Sabersky plays the younger lead character, also on witness protection, and we find out a bit about her past as well and about her work at a bakery and the guy who is after her. Of course, she is an amazing young woman and needs a suitor immediately, if the other lead does not have one. I guess the detective does not count. By the way, Sabersky is indeed not unattractive and when she talks about what to do at night in a bakery, it is kinda hot, but really this is just distraction for the male audiences from the fact that she is not a particularly good actress either. Supporting cast I cannot say too much. It is still somewhat chaotic here in terms of the listing on imdb. None of them have great material. Ostrowskki is maybe the only one who is familiar. The dentist did a pretty good job though with how cold he was, especially at the old lady's house.
Now my key problem with this film can be summarized very easily. It was just too much in terms of what happened here in such a short period of time. Let's sum it all up: We have two women on the run from dangerous Syrian (I think) criminals. We have in a totally unrelated side story a young rich hipster who wants a young woman dead. This female's lover killed himself just recently. By the way, he is shown right after a character says this is a quiet place where not much happens. I assume this was the writer's clumsy shot at comedy? Anyway, all this happens at the same time in the same place. I'm not finished. We have this store robbery very early on, also same place. The exact same moment our heroine is inside the store. And the detective is as well. It is just too much. And don't think this is everything! We have a relative of the crime lord (out of nowhere) find out where the witness protection characters are and get there immediately. By the way, why does nobody care what the crime boss tells his son(?) and how is it even allowed to be treated by your son when you have problems with your teeth. The coincidences here are massive. Absolutely no connection to reality. The outcome of those may be entertaining, maybe tense at times, like the burial scene at the very end that could have you at the edge of your seat, but these decent scenes are based on extremely stupid writing in terms of what happened before, so they are impossible to appreciate. Just one example. How could the dentist even guess, even if he knew he was at the right place, that the old lady has a photo with the female protagonist in her apartment. I'm not buying it. And don't even get me started on the what happened over a thousand years ago. Back with the romans. They cannot be for real honestly with that. I mean it could have been an interesting idea, but the fallen man's skull saving the detective's life and makin sure he can kill the dentist is jsut such a clumsy idea the way it is depicted here that it is almost so bad it is funny. At least the foxes were cure. Yep, of course at the exact same time place are also foxes around, only with hundreds and hundreds of years in-between. Honestly, if this film tried to convince us that these foxes were related, I would not even have been surprised because of everything else that totally lacks authenticity that they are trying to get away with here. As for the title, I guess this is linked to the private eye. We cannot really be sure yet which direction he is heading although he clearly does not seem to be like a bad guy yet with how clumsy he was with the gun in the end when telling the actual villain to keep digging. But who knows. You never know with ARD. Maybe they actually turn him into some villain and have the two female leads kill him too in the end. I mean they usually go for female superiority all the time when the completely untalented production company Degeto is involved. We will see next weekend when the second part, the sequel is shown. This one is gonna be online too. Maybe I will keep watching. Let's see. depends on what else is on that day I suppose. I just hope it will not be as terrible as this first film here. I am also pretty sure it is not as easy as they wnat us to think here to find a certain cop online. I mean come on. She is a cop from Berlin and yet this private eye finds a photo that shows her in under an hour. From the internet. Ar they for real? Sadly, yes. I am as well when I say this film is complete nonsense. Big thumbs-down. Highly not recommended. It isn't creative either. Like we have the usual idea how one character acts as if a cup of coffee or so falls down and secretly installs a bug in the mid of the chaos. All so amateurish. To watch and portrayed. Disgraceful. Never should have been made or shown. Especially not on national television. Our GEZ money for this mess. Awesome. But hey, at least we are getting the usual pro-refugee propaganda in exchange. And let's just ignore the killer's origins for once. And of course left-wing activists are in reality not promiscuous at all if the spoiled rich kid says so. Who turns out to be a sexual offender as well. Yeah, right. I don't even... That's all now. Gross movie. Keep your distance at any cost!
Now my key problem with this film can be summarized very easily. It was just too much in terms of what happened here in such a short period of time. Let's sum it all up: We have two women on the run from dangerous Syrian (I think) criminals. We have in a totally unrelated side story a young rich hipster who wants a young woman dead. This female's lover killed himself just recently. By the way, he is shown right after a character says this is a quiet place where not much happens. I assume this was the writer's clumsy shot at comedy? Anyway, all this happens at the same time in the same place. I'm not finished. We have this store robbery very early on, also same place. The exact same moment our heroine is inside the store. And the detective is as well. It is just too much. And don't think this is everything! We have a relative of the crime lord (out of nowhere) find out where the witness protection characters are and get there immediately. By the way, why does nobody care what the crime boss tells his son(?) and how is it even allowed to be treated by your son when you have problems with your teeth. The coincidences here are massive. Absolutely no connection to reality. The outcome of those may be entertaining, maybe tense at times, like the burial scene at the very end that could have you at the edge of your seat, but these decent scenes are based on extremely stupid writing in terms of what happened before, so they are impossible to appreciate. Just one example. How could the dentist even guess, even if he knew he was at the right place, that the old lady has a photo with the female protagonist in her apartment. I'm not buying it. And don't even get me started on the what happened over a thousand years ago. Back with the romans. They cannot be for real honestly with that. I mean it could have been an interesting idea, but the fallen man's skull saving the detective's life and makin sure he can kill the dentist is jsut such a clumsy idea the way it is depicted here that it is almost so bad it is funny. At least the foxes were cure. Yep, of course at the exact same time place are also foxes around, only with hundreds and hundreds of years in-between. Honestly, if this film tried to convince us that these foxes were related, I would not even have been surprised because of everything else that totally lacks authenticity that they are trying to get away with here. As for the title, I guess this is linked to the private eye. We cannot really be sure yet which direction he is heading although he clearly does not seem to be like a bad guy yet with how clumsy he was with the gun in the end when telling the actual villain to keep digging. But who knows. You never know with ARD. Maybe they actually turn him into some villain and have the two female leads kill him too in the end. I mean they usually go for female superiority all the time when the completely untalented production company Degeto is involved. We will see next weekend when the second part, the sequel is shown. This one is gonna be online too. Maybe I will keep watching. Let's see. depends on what else is on that day I suppose. I just hope it will not be as terrible as this first film here. I am also pretty sure it is not as easy as they wnat us to think here to find a certain cop online. I mean come on. She is a cop from Berlin and yet this private eye finds a photo that shows her in under an hour. From the internet. Ar they for real? Sadly, yes. I am as well when I say this film is complete nonsense. Big thumbs-down. Highly not recommended. It isn't creative either. Like we have the usual idea how one character acts as if a cup of coffee or so falls down and secretly installs a bug in the mid of the chaos. All so amateurish. To watch and portrayed. Disgraceful. Never should have been made or shown. Especially not on national television. Our GEZ money for this mess. Awesome. But hey, at least we are getting the usual pro-refugee propaganda in exchange. And let's just ignore the killer's origins for once. And of course left-wing activists are in reality not promiscuous at all if the spoiled rich kid says so. Who turns out to be a sexual offender as well. Yeah, right. I don't even... That's all now. Gross movie. Keep your distance at any cost!
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