User Reviews

So far I've read all the books and seen all the movies, and enjoyed all of them. Franz Eberhofer (Sebastian Bezzel) is the affable village cop ("Dorfsheriff") from the Bavarian boondocks who gets even the most gruesome cases solved by bending a few rules while eating well, drinking hard and - - occasionally successfully -- wooing village heartthrob Susi (Lisa Potthoff). Who has this time eloped to Italy with her Latin lover, which necessitates Franz -- accompanied by half of the village -- to pursue her lago di Garda. On the 9-to-5 side of things, a Hannibal Lecter- like psychopath has escaped and threatens Franz's boss Moratschek (Sigi Zimmerschied) by depositing a bloody pig's head on his bed. In turn, Moratschek moves in with Franz and his stoner dad for protection; to his horror, they soon form a sort of old fart commune.

The crime story is a bit on the thin side this time, especially as the film reveals that the psychopath manages to fake his death halfway through the story, rather than letting us believe that he is actually out of the picture. So while Franz is chasing Susi in Italy, it's clear that the killer is about to resurface. So when he does, it's no surprise. Even worse, when he holds Franz and his "he-wife" Rudi (Simon Schwarz) at gunpoint, they manage to solve the situation by - - wait for it -- offering him a slice of drug-infused pizza, which he, for no reason other than to wrap up the story, readily accepts.

But apart from these minor gripes, Franz Eberhofer delivers great entertainment once again.

"Schweinskopf al dente" is already the third installment of the crime/comedy film series starring Sebastian Bezzel as Franz Eberhofer. This one came out last year and runs for slightly over 90 minutes if we're including credits. The director is once again Ed Herzog and he is also one of the several people adapting Rita Falk's novel for the screen here. The big screen that is and this is exactly where this movie belongs. I think it is safe to say that if you enjoyed the previous two films, then you will also appreciate this one here. The comedy is really similar in all of these and while there are some moments and sequences that did not work out completely, I must say I enjoyed it too overall. This time, Eberhofer has to deal with his girlfriend's plans to go to Italy, loud and annoying music, Birkenberger's usual shenanigans, his dad and his dad's new buddy (who is at the same time targeted by the killer) and last but not least a psychopath doctor who manages to flee during a prisoner transport. The latter is played convincingly scary by Gregor Bloéb and the Russian roulette moments are certainly edge-of-seat material. Bloéb is one of several Austrian influences on this Bavarian-themed movie. Another would be Simon Schwarz, who is otherwise mostly known for co-starring next to Hader in the Brenner movies. A mix of comedy and crime seems to be his strength as he is fun to watch in both film series. However, having seen many of these films, I must say that Schwarz's screen time was not that much this time. But when he is on screen, he is fun and memorable as always, like early on during the phone conversation, in this flashback scene with the bad guy and also in the end in the car, again with the bad guy. But you must say that while he is usually quite a fool, the pizza idea and also how he managed to get the substance on the pizza was pretty impressive and saved everybody's lives even.

A few more words on Bloéb and his killer character. Of course you knew that somehow our "heroes" will find a way out of their hopeless situation, but the scene in the car was incredibly tense nonetheless and this is something that is really impressive, especially for a comedy movie. Also his scenes early on how he gets free and how he takes care of the old man he runs into are interesting and pretty brutal. I just wondered why when he is still tied up and fakes this attack, the other guy in the car who is asleep does not wake up immediately, but only seconds later when it is too late and he is attacked with the defibrillator. Or how he immediately afterwards approach the driver who tries to crawl away, but we know what happens there, even if we don't see it. Then there is this scene when he is dressed up as a doctor and ready to make a lethal visit before a nurse unknowingly saves the day. Or the scene with Tiesel's character and how he acts as if he is about to knock her out, but of course in front of everybody he doesn't because the attention would be a huge obstacle, aside from the fact that he faked his own death before and then everybody would know he is actually alive. Or the reference I just made. When he put the dead guy at the wheel there and had the car accelerate right into the police line (I think that's what he did and it wasn't a tree or something) was amazingly cool with the explosion down there and I am saying this as somebody who never cares about explosions, action scenes etc. otherwise. The element of luck and coincidence was crucial in this film too with this character. Not just with the Russian roulette in the end, but also for example when he is about to be caught because he did not know about the police line. Or the female cop that shows up at the door worrying about nothing but the parking ticket.

As for the comedy, I already said this is typical for these Eberhofer films and it is definitely true. I am not sure what you will laugh at in here, but I would be surprised if anybody finds this film completely funny. It is a bit over the top at times for sure, but they are getting away with it nonetheless. Take the little Asian girl and her name. Take the beard they pain on the bad guy's face in the end. Absolutely not politically correct and I love it. Take the shots fired at the record player Another example would be the protagonist whho abuses his power as a cop to (try to) keep his girlfriend from driving off. Or the two sleazy fellas looking at those women in bikinis. Or take Schwarz's character here how he hugs Eberhofer after they managed to take out the bad guy somehow. The slight acceleration there made it even funnier and also takes out some seriousness for sure. Or take how Schwarz's character is ready to really beat up the bad guy in the backseat. Oh well, he probably deserved it. I mean, even with all the comedy in here, it must be said that the moment we see the bad guy rise in the backseat was very scary and very nicely done. Oh and back to the little Asian girl: She is also an example of the nice camera work here. Look at how the old woman with the purple hair enters the room and the camera gives us a close-up of the little girl's face that made me think something like that a sight like this she would never have come across in her Asian hometown. The absurdity of it all. I cannot really say to what extent scenes like these came from the writers of the screenplay here or from Rita Falk because I have never read her books and also do not really have the intention to, but I have a feeling that they could be pretty decent too. The movies certainly are.

A few more words on some cast members. I already mentioned Margarete Tiesel and she is maybe most remembered for her Paradise movie with Ulrich Seidl and she is not the only actress that fits the description because Maria Hofstätter is in here too. And she was the lead in Seidl's elaboration on the subject of faith from the Paradise trilogy. Both play minor characters with not a lot of screen time, but they deserve to be included as well. You could say they are wasted, if you want to be harsh, but I personally think they contributed nicely here as well with what they were given. There are no weak characters in here. I personally was a bit surprised to see Francis Fulton-Smith in here, but positively surprised because this was definitely a good career choice from him and as he has made many bad ones (that probably only focused on the money he got, GEZ money for television films without any creativity whatsoever) and I do think he has talent, so nice to see him here, even if his role was too small and insignificant to truly make an impact. But I think he plays a recurring character, so really nice that he is on board. To some extent, this also applies to lead actor Bezzel. he has been in some weak films too that were doomed since day one and creativity and talent was completely absent, but this film series here makes me kinda like the man nonetheless. This film here could be the one from the series in which he has the smallest amount of screen time, simply because there are so man characters included here. I mean it's pretty telling that Schwarz' character did not show up before the 25-minute mark. And that the romantic relationship between him and Potthoff's character was not a factor at all this time or only very briefly at the beginning and end. Good thing to be honest. I was not impressed by this plot and not really entertained either and that varicose veins are nothing your girlfriend is really proud to have should be self-explanatory too without the film reminding us. Wind instruments and western film music add more fun on several occasions.

The comedy makes it worth watching and the crime aspect, thanks to Bloéb, is very interesting here too. I must say I did not remember the actor to be particularly talented. Maybe it is my weak memory, maybe it is his weak role selection, but I was really impressed this time. The outcome of these films is something all filmmakers should try to achieve when they are going for lighter crime films. Of course, one cannot say that everything in here worked well, but this also has to do with subjective taste of course. Like I am not big on Flötzinger (the actor reminds me a bit of Rick Kavanian) and his scenes (with the Düringer look-alike) did not leave a lasting impression on me, but I still laughed here and there, like when they are woken up in the car with these girls with them and Moratschek got abducted. The humor is sometimes really dark and it definitely remembered me of the Brenner films I mentioned previously already. If you like these, check out this film series here. The title is once again a (not so) culinary revelation like in the previous 2 and the pig head included in here is a reference to the Godfather films that is also picked up on one occasions directly (horse head). There are more references about other pretty good films and you will recognize them if you are a movie buff. One would be "No Country for Old Men" and Bloéb sometimes reminded me in terms of character and mannerisms as a bit of a Middle European Chigurh. How fitting that a car crash, even if early on and not in the end, is also vital to this character. Okay, enough now. I am glad to see a fourth film is already in the making and it will come out later in 2017. I'll make sure to check that one out as well and maybe by then I am a bit more used to the language because the thick South German accent is a bit of an obstancle also to German native speakers like myself. I hope the next installment will be on the same level of quality like this one here. I recommend checking it out.