Falsch verbunden

'False Number' was a stage play dramatised for German television. This low-budget production would have been more effective if some pre-filmed exterior sequences (especially of the robbery) could have been inserted; as it stands, all the most exciting events in this drama take place offstage and so must be rehashed in the thick-ear dialogue.

Alois, Max and Cyril are a gang of robbers: hardened professionals, who pull their jobs quickly and efficiently. They've planned another job -- a payroll heist -- and it looks to be routine. But this time something goes wrong, and a watchman is killed. The gang rush back to their hideout to plan their next move. Did anyone see them? Were they identified? Have they been followed?

Suddenly the 'phone rings. The caller is a middle-aged woman named Crystal ... and the call turns out to be a wrong number. Or is it? Alois, the leader, becomes convinced that Fraulein Crystal knows something about the robbery. Now they have to find her and silence her.

There would be more suspense here if we knew that the characters were going to leave the studio-bound set and go someplace else. But we know they're going to stand here and talk and talk and talk, nicht wahr? I'll rate this thing one point in 10.