A murdered lawyer, a quick-tempered Italian, Boerne's great love and two orphaned goldfish - in Münster it's "A friend, a good friend" for the 20th anniversary. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be a crime novel, a good crime novel.
What is happening?
At the beginning there are signs of farewell. Defense attorney Friedhelm Fabian (Jan Georg Schütte) and his wife Veronika (Proschat Madani) want to emigrate to Guatemala and celebrate this step into their new life with a big party. Karl-Friedrich Boerne (Jan-Josef Liefers). He is not only involved in friendship, the beautiful Veronika is his eternal, great love, unfulfilled and unforgotten.
However, while the glasses are ringing here, things are getting extremely tight for one of Fabian's legal colleagues. Lawyer Weber (Hadi Khanjanpour) has a visit from Nino Agostini (Claudio Caiolo), one of his clients. Not only is he a highly dangerous mafioso, but unfortunately he's also dissatisfied with Weber's enthusiasm for work. Everyone knows that anyone who has the mafia against them may soon be wearing concrete shoes or getting a second belly button. Not surprisingly, the next day Weber actually lies shot dead in his office while the water from his aquarium seeps into the carpet. The goldfish watched everything, which of course is of little use to Commissioner Frank Thiel (Axel Prahl). When Friedhelm Fabian is finally kidnapped, the case takes a new turn - and Boerne's feelings boil over.
What is it really about?
Of course, to Boerne and Thiel, as always. "I think the biggest challenge with 'Tatort' from Münster is finding the balance between crime and comedy," says director Janis Rebecca Rattenni about the Münster mantra. Unfortunately, screenwriter Benjamin Henssler didn't provide her with the ideal template for this. The case itself becomes sticky like overcooked spaghetti in the second half at the latest, and the gags are not "al dente" in the long run, but often toothless and carelessly timed.
Zapp-Moment?
Boerne as the keynote speaker, who talks about masturbative highlights, in which the hostess plays a decisive role - right at the beginning the shame factor is high, as is the zapp potential from the start.
Wow-Factor?
Visually, "A Friend, A Good Friend" is a respectable bash. Anyone who uses the split screen stylistic device is initially on the tasteful side. But then on the split screen - which became popular in the 1960s and 1970s with classics such as "Thomas Crown is unbelievable", "Woodstock" and "Andromeda - Deadly Dust from Space" - decisive, enlightening, in short, do something exciting. Unfortunately, that is not the case in Munster.
How was it?
two out of ten points - an exalted mafioso doesn't make a "godfather" and a split screen doesn't make a "Thomas Crown", in other words: molto noioso.
