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Here's a brief (spoiler free) summary of the first 15 to 20 minutes of the film - read it and decide for yourself if you'd like to watch this 'Tatort' episode.

Setting: a small theatre in Ludwigshafen staging crime comedy plays in the local dialect.

The detective Ms Lena Odenthal is visiting the premiere of a new play when the main actress dies from an allergic shock after having eaten a filled croissant during a break between the acts of the play.

Was this an accident or was it murder? Does this sound like a classical Agatha Christie crime plot of the 60s to you?

Well, the director of this 'Tatort' episode has decided that you might not be intelligent enough to understand a crime story without guidance. Therefore the dead actresses ghost needs to constantly appear in dreams to the detective and tell her that this was a 'murder by croissant' and that the detective should look for clues - threatening to return in dreams as long as the case remaining unsolved.

Ms Odenthal, our detective, is not really completely convinced but nevertheless visits the funeral ceremony and makes acquaintances with the family and colleagues of the ceased actress. At this point we're getting into full throttle script genius mode: We are introduced to the lesbian daughter of the actress who left the theatre 3 years ago and is not on good terms with the rest of the theatre cast, we learn that the dead actress had two lovers simultaneously, the theatre director and - what a twist! - the owner of the bakery next door which delivered the deadly croissant. And we meet the theatre building's owner who would like to knock down the building and build a home for migrants instead (to profit from state supplies for migrants) - the theatre's rental agreement was in the name of the deceased actress. Also there is misfortune and mistrust amongst the remaining theatre personnel.

Unfortunately for us, Ms Odenthal is not clever enough to figure out any clues within this messy setup so the ghost of the dead actress has to return in another dream and give her a few more hints. Ms Odenthal follows the ghost's inspirations and visits the lesbian daughter, interrupting a heated discussion between her and her lesbian girlfriend who (as we learn) is still living in marriage with a man and doesn't want to admit to her lesbian (or bisexual?) lifestyle in public. The girlfriend leaves enraged, but the lesbian daughter keeps it cool and out of the blue suggests to the detective to play a part in the theatre play although Ms Odenthal does admit having no experience at all. Who cares - in the the next scene we see the lesbian daughter in the empty theatre teaching Ms Odenthal how to play her role in the play...

At this point I stopped watching - I was just not longer interested to find out if there had been a murder in the beginning or not, nor who could be romantically involved with somebody or holding a grudge, nor wanted to see another ghost appearance in another dream, nor find out what in another sub plot the detective's partner had wanted to announce during a weekend get-together (he left early)... and also I was so fed up with the unnerving musical score.

I'll award one point for the funny dialect which is spoken throughout the episode and zero points for the script (and the director).

The movie description on the back of my DVD cover (German release) compares this movie with 'A Bittersweet Life' and 'Oldboy'. Usually I wouldn't trust these cheap advertising lines of the distribution companies anyway but I was still lured by the "revenge with a twist" theme of the movie plot description.

The first half of the movie isn't too bad at all, we get to know the killer trying to find his long lost brother. He finally finds out where he is and that he is a cop but at their first meeting the cop gets shot dead right before his eyes. As you'd expect the killer wants to find out who killed his brother and to take revenge. He takes the identity of his brother, disguises as a cop and starts the action. A series of flashbacks into their youth adds on to how they had been separated and introduces a few more characters. So far, so good... nice little twist in the script, killer turns cop, movie not bad so far. Unfortunately after that the movie gets worse and worse... plot holes, an almost never-ending overdone showdown ... I won't develop that much more, just read the previous 3 user comments who already pointed out most of the weak parts.

As for a simple revenge action film the average viewer will normally accept a few plot holes but there are just too many and also the behaviour of the characters are just too absurd to take it seriously. To make it worse: choreography of the action scenes in the final showdown is too slow and almost makes you look for the 'fast fwd' button on your remote control.

What does this movie then have in common with 'A Bittersweet Life' or 'Oldboy'? Except for the revenge theme and a stylish photography not much unfortunately.

On the whole this movie is rather a waste of time. Don't hesitate to see 'A Bittersweet Life' however if you have missed it so far. Another nice one from South Korea is 'Mr. Socrates'. And I must admit that I had enjoyed Travolta's 'The Punisher' or 'Death Sentence' with Kevin Bacon more than this one...

This is one of the average 'policeguy tries to help in solving crime puzzle but is hindered by other police force' action flicks. It tries to look stylish and Hollywood-alike but on the whole it neither manages to reach Hollywood standards nor can live up to other well achieved Asian action movies. In no way this movie can compare to the excellent 'Shiri', any of the Takeshi Kitano films or the great Hongkong action movies. The movie characters appear rather flat in this movie and the flow of the movie is not really in the right pace. The excellent TV-series '24' with Kiefer Sutherland is a perfect example how to pace and direct a movie with that 'lonesome cop fights against all' theme. As for the comedy aspects in that film: stick to 'Beverly Hills Cop 1', 'Bad Boys', 'Lethal Weapon series' and similar films and you will have more fun. And as for Asian action movies: there are plenty of very good action flicks. Overall I rate this movie 5/10, it's not really that bad at all, but don't expect another 'Shiri' or 'Brother', 'Hana-Bi' or even 'Fulltime Killer'.