"Reich oder tot" is a German television film from 2017 and it as written and directed by Lars Becker about whom I cannot really say anything too bad. He is not really famous, not even to film buffs like myself, but his body of work is decent, way better compared to many other reguöar small screen filmmakers from my country. His work here runs for 1.5 hours and is the third entry to a film series based on the novels by Georg M. Oswald. My guess is that this is also the last chapter, not only becausse 3 years have passed already since this one here, but also the ending really seemed that way. The cast is really alright for a television film, probably even above-average. The two cops at the center of the film are played by Austrian actors Nicholas Ofczarek and Fritz Karl. Supporting players include Jessica Schwarz, Melika Foroutan, Anna Loos, Martin Brambach and Francis Fulton-Smith and for the latter I am especially happy that he gets to appear in films like this because I think with the right script and roles, he has the talent and is much better than all we saw from him in these many many stupid romance movies. As for Brambach, I am definitely a fan and it's always nice to see him for me, even if he does not have too much screen time like in this movie here. Jessica Schwarz I have known and followed for a long time. Her role selection is not always too great, which probably also applies to her character here, but I think she is an okay actress and also pretty attractive, even in her 40s now. She had a great deal of screen time early on and also toards the end, but in-between she was missing completely, but not really missed, which says a lot about her character. Fritz Karl was okay, not too great, but also nowhere near the level of horrible that his partner (in life) is every time I see her in something. Ofczarek was better from the two here I suppose. Anna Loos luckily was not given enough material this time to ruin a movie the way she has done in the past. Very overrated actress and definitely not lead material. Lorna Ishema impressed me by how bad she was and verfy much stinking up her scenes although she was barely in this film. Memorable for all the wrong reasons. Rashidi was okay, a bit sad that these films are what she is going for now after the lead performance in a BAFTA-winning movie a few years ago. I think she is better than she could show us here. One who is not was Melika Foroutan. As bad as Loos and with her it really shows because she has much more screen time. Her line delivery was unbearable at times to be honest. So stale and wooden. The opposite of a natural really. One who surprised me very positively here was Sahin Eryilmaz. I don't think I have come across the actor before or probably I have, but I don't remember, but he as really good here in every scene he had and held his own when he shared several two-people scenes with Karl and Ofczarek. Impressive. Also he has the only somewhat funny scene here when he tells the cop(s) how he is oh so innocent, such an angel and just got treated badly because of prejudice. Hilarious scene there in the first half of the film, in a really positive way. By the way, as for the cops, looking at Karl's and Ofczarek's origins, I am a bit surprised this is not at leasr an Austrian co-production. Felix Everding has really not too much screen time, especially if we take into account that he is almost sort of the main antagonist here. I read that the actor was in "Aktenzeichen XY... ungelöst!" and you could say that all he can show us here is the equivalent to this television series that is honestly not known for its great acting gently-speaking. But it's not the actors's fault. It is sort of a nothing character despite how big his impact may have been.
Okay, the plot and story here occasionally are where the film struggles the most. This mostly refers to subplots like the girl with the illness, everything about Foroutan's character and her fashion choices, in which this film too desperately tries to be relevant in terms of current issues or most of all the story about the one cop having an affair with the other cop's (ex) partner. Maybe it would have been better to do without this nonsense and keep the film at 75 minutes. No need to make it longer with stupid inclusions like these. Admittedly, also in these more memorable (for more violence) scenes and sequences, it is not a realistic movie. Just take into consideration how Schwarz' character is there when the bank is robbed early on. Very tense sscene, but too much for a coincidence. And don't even get me started on the two badass cops being just around the corner and knowing (at least) one of the robbers. Or the reason why Karl's character has to jo to jail, the drugs I mean and the question if they were planted or not. In general, an okay idea, but the execution was not very convincing. And finally, the spectacular shootout with two killings even, which was also pretty nice and cool to watch (maybe because those two deserved it the most), but again I cannot really say that it felt too realistic from any perspective. But it's decent closure. It's basically a new life for everybody involved. At least those that live. Relationships are over, romance and friendships and everybody may be heading towards new paths. This also applies to the two cops really who are not willing to forgive each other what happened, especially the romance between Ofczarek's and Schwarz' character. But that one is over too now. The very last scene when there is talk about Fulton Smith's character and his disappearance is also pretty nice, but again almost destroyed by Foroutan's bad acting and she only had two or three lines. Enough said I guess. They really should have cast somebody else there, but I guess they thought she would be accurate with her ethnic background for this character, which was a really really bad decision because the one thing more important than your roots is your range. And she has almost none. Okay this would be all then. I think it is a film that has its moments, but overall it is not good enough for a positive recommendation. Certainly way above failure territory though luckily. I must say I was not too impressed here to watch the previous two films (haven't seen either), but I am also a bit worried that if you have seen them, you will find even more flaws with this third and final(?) installment. Normally it should be the other way around that having seen the earlier films would not be required, but at least recommended. Here not so much I'd say. Eventually, let me add that I have not read any of the books this is based on, so I cannot talk about differences and similarities. My suggestion is you skip this movie in any case, regardless of you having read the books or not. Or at least keep your expectations low this time before going for it. The cast sounds much better than the movie turns out to be.
Okay, the plot and story here occasionally are where the film struggles the most. This mostly refers to subplots like the girl with the illness, everything about Foroutan's character and her fashion choices, in which this film too desperately tries to be relevant in terms of current issues or most of all the story about the one cop having an affair with the other cop's (ex) partner. Maybe it would have been better to do without this nonsense and keep the film at 75 minutes. No need to make it longer with stupid inclusions like these. Admittedly, also in these more memorable (for more violence) scenes and sequences, it is not a realistic movie. Just take into consideration how Schwarz' character is there when the bank is robbed early on. Very tense sscene, but too much for a coincidence. And don't even get me started on the two badass cops being just around the corner and knowing (at least) one of the robbers. Or the reason why Karl's character has to jo to jail, the drugs I mean and the question if they were planted or not. In general, an okay idea, but the execution was not very convincing. And finally, the spectacular shootout with two killings even, which was also pretty nice and cool to watch (maybe because those two deserved it the most), but again I cannot really say that it felt too realistic from any perspective. But it's decent closure. It's basically a new life for everybody involved. At least those that live. Relationships are over, romance and friendships and everybody may be heading towards new paths. This also applies to the two cops really who are not willing to forgive each other what happened, especially the romance between Ofczarek's and Schwarz' character. But that one is over too now. The very last scene when there is talk about Fulton Smith's character and his disappearance is also pretty nice, but again almost destroyed by Foroutan's bad acting and she only had two or three lines. Enough said I guess. They really should have cast somebody else there, but I guess they thought she would be accurate with her ethnic background for this character, which was a really really bad decision because the one thing more important than your roots is your range. And she has almost none. Okay this would be all then. I think it is a film that has its moments, but overall it is not good enough for a positive recommendation. Certainly way above failure territory though luckily. I must say I was not too impressed here to watch the previous two films (haven't seen either), but I am also a bit worried that if you have seen them, you will find even more flaws with this third and final(?) installment. Normally it should be the other way around that having seen the earlier films would not be required, but at least recommended. Here not so much I'd say. Eventually, let me add that I have not read any of the books this is based on, so I cannot talk about differences and similarities. My suggestion is you skip this movie in any case, regardless of you having read the books or not. Or at least keep your expectations low this time before going for it. The cast sounds much better than the movie turns out to be.
