Alte Bande (2019)

Johannes Bückler, known to everyone simply as Boxer, is 80 years old and one of the oldest inmates in the prison. He impresses the other inmates not only with the enormous strength he still has at his advanced age, but also with his personality. He is not afraid to take on a much younger fellow inmate in a fight and knock him out. When the prison doctor tells Boxer that he is to be transferred to an outpost of the Cologne prison reserved specifically for older inmates, Boxer is far from pleased—in fact, quite the opposite. Shortly afterward, his buddy Henne tells him that he has tracked down Kathrin, Boxer’s great love from years ago, and that she has a grown-up daughter who looks remarkably like him. Boxer changes his mind and is now perfectly happy to be transferred to the senior prison. He thinks he will have a better chance of escaping from there. He is desperate to see Kathrin again, after all; he once wanted to marry her. The thought that he might have a daughter also gives him a new lease on life. At his new facility, Boxer runs into his former friend Thomas Wallberg, something he never expected. In the 1980s, he, Wallberg, and his buddy Henne committed several robberies, including a sensational jewel heist worth millions. Unlike Henne, against whom nothing could be proved, Boxer and Wallberg were convicted of the crime. The loot has never been found. During pretrial detention, Boxer and Wallberg had a violent clash that ended with Boxer beating Wallberg so badly he had to be hospitalized. Boxer thought Wallberg was trying to steal Kathrin from him. Wallberg, too, is initially anything but pleased to see the newcomer at the senior prison. Boxer soon discovers that Wallberg is only pretending to have dementia so he can deal drugs undisturbed. But when Wallberg suggests that they escape together, Boxer sees an opportunity, unaware that Wallberg has his own motives for doing so. Kathrin’s daughter could be his child, too. Boxer and Wallberg call on old contacts outside the prison and arrange a power outage, throwing the prison into chaos. They use the confusion to escape inside two food containers belonging to a delivery service. In return for helping them escape, they owe Lewski, an old gang boss and pimp, €50,000. Lewski and his men give them a day to come up with the money. They plan to raise it by finding the hidden loot that has never been recovered. First, though, Boxer and Wallberg meet up with their buddy and third accomplice, Henne, and celebrate their reunion at a bowling alley. Together, they plan to retrieve the loot from its hiding place. Afterward, they are to meet Kathrin again. The loot is buried under a tree in front of a newly built police station. The three bribe a construction worker named Jürgen and, disguised as a work crew, manage to dig it up. But Boxer and Wallberg’s hopeful anticipation is followed by a nasty surprise. Although they had once sworn to dig up the loot only together, Henne, who now has a weak heart, has already turned almost all the jewels into cash. Only two diamonds remain. Although Henne did not spend most of the money on himself, instead using it to support Kathrin and her daughter financially, Boxer is furious at first. The trio’s biggest problem, however, is that they can no longer pay Lewski. Shortly afterward, Lewski makes it unmistakably clear that there is no negotiating over the money, but gives them a second chance. They are to rob a bank. Two of his men will wait outside in a getaway car until the robbery is over, then make their escape with them. With no other choice, they agree, but then leave through a rear exit without carrying out the demanded robbery. Since they have nowhere else to hide at short notice, Henne takes them to his home. Wallberg in particular knows this hiding place will not stay safe for long; they have to get out of there as soon as possible. As Boxer and Wallberg argue when Boxer learns that Wallberg, too, could be Julia’s father, Henne dies quietly, sitting on his sofa. Before Boxer and Wallberg can get away, they see through the windows that the police have surrounded the house. Wallberg turns on the gas from Henne’s stove. When the police break down the apartment door, the three men are lying motionless inside, and the place smells of gas. Henne is declared dead, and emergency services are called for Boxer and Wallberg. The pair force the paramedics at gunpoint to get out of the ambulance and escape in it. Wallberg hot-wires a car, and the two drive to Kathrin, who now lives in a luxury retirement home. But their first reunion after all these years is not what Boxer had hoped. Kathrin seems drowsy and a little confused when they first meet. Even when she is more alert, she recognizes neither Boxer nor Wallberg. It turns out that she has severe dementia and thinks the two men are plumbers. Boxer dreams of dancing with Kathrin one more time, while Wallberg plays the piano. He thinks about the life he could have had with her, feels sad, and also feels somehow guilty for having spent most of his life in prison. He has to accept “that the train of life has left without him.” By chance, Boxer then meets Julia at a vending machine and assumes she is his daughter. Given Julia’s resemblance to Boxer, Wallberg now thinks so, too, though he had only had a one-night stand with Kathrin back then. Boxer talks to Julia but does not reveal that he is probably her father. Julia visits her mother, Kathrin, and finds the two diamonds left from the loot. The next day, Boxer and Wallberg go to Henne’s still-open grave to say goodbye. At the cemetery, they are ambushed both by one of Lewski’s men and by the police. Boxer, who is still in good shape, knocks Lewski’s man out. The pair manage to reach the car they stole and flee in it. But several police vehicles are pursuing them, and eventually they realize that there is no point in trying to escape any farther. So the men decide to return to the place that is their home and smash through the gate of the senior prison in their car. Guard Krause barely manages to leap out of the way. After a brief dream sequence in which Boxer and Wallberg appear to be in heaven, Boxer comes to. The pair are greeted by the prison governor, who says, “Now that’s an age-appropriate entrance.” Krause, who also checks every four hours inside the facility to make sure all the inmates are still well, opens the car door and asks Boxer and Wallberg if they are still alive. Boxer replies, “You bet!”