Der Überfall (2000)

Andreas Berger (Roland Düringer) is divorced and unemployed. He is in a hopeless financial situation: he can neither pay child support to his ex-wife nor buy a birthday present for his son. In desperation, dressed as a clown, he robs a Mondo supermarket branch one Saturday morning. But when he tries to pull out his gun, he panics and flees into a small, old-fashioned-looking tailor shop next to the supermarket. There he encounters the owner, Josef Böckel (Joachim Bißmeier), whom he threatens with his gun drawn. A customer, Werner Kopper (Josef Hader), is sitting in the adjoining room. He is a hypochondriac with a heart condition who initially thinks he can remain unnoticed. But the robber cannot escape with the paltry haul of a few hundred schillings: a large contingent of police has taken up position outside the tailor shop. By coincidence, the Mondo branch across the street has just been robbed. Berger assumes the officers have come for him and decides to stay in the shop with his two hostages for the time being. It soon becomes clear that Berger is completely overwhelmed by the situation. He is nothing like the tough guy he is trying to portray. He seems to have great understanding and compassion, particularly for the sickly Mr. Kopper, who suffers several bouts of breathlessness because of his heart condition. Berger cannot bring himself to refuse Kopper’s request to untie him, either. But the hostages cannot work together: after years of doing business together, they seem to hate each other deeply. While Berger is looking for more money, the bound Böckel tells his customer to call the police on his mobile phone. But Kopper lies and says the battery is dead. When the phone rings later, Böckel realizes he lied. When a young woman suddenly appears at the door and wants to enter the tailor shop, Kopper says that the old tailor, Böckel, lets prostitutes come into his shop. The two hostages increasingly taunt each other. After much pleading, Berger finally unties the tailor as well, but Böckel lunges at him and beats him nearly unconscious. Then the second hostage intervenes: Kopper takes the pistol and threatens the tailor. He tells the robber to leave quickly with the money. The tailor’s revenge on Kopper is to try to turn Berger against him, claiming Kopper has a lot of money on him. Kopper does hand the robber a small amount, but points out that he would have spent the money at Böckel’s shop anyway—that Berger is really stealing it from Böckel. When the police finally leave the building across the street, the robber could in fact leave the tailor shop. After numerous arguments and moments of solidarity among the three, a scuffle, and struggles over the gun, which changes hands several times, the only one who dies is the tailor’s bird, which Böckel eventually throws into the oven fire. Time has passed, and Berger thinks of his son: he promised to pick him up from kindergarten on time. He wants to say a friendly goodbye to his two hostages and wishes them all the best. But by now the hostages only want to harm each other even more. Kopper tells the robber to go with Böckel to the bank and withdraw money from the tailor’s account. Berger is persuaded and forces Böckel to go to the bank with him, while Kopper is supposed to wait at the tailor shop. As Böckel withdraws 5,000 schillings at the bank counter, the robber stands behind him wearing a red wig and a pair of novelty glasses. He is wearing Kopper’s long black coat, which Kopper lent him for the trip to the bank. When Kopper’s mobile phone rings inside the coat, Berger gets nervous. Apparently, a bank customer’s child now also notices that he is holding a pistol. Berger panics, pulls out the gun, shouts “Stick ’em up!” and flees the bank with far more money than the 5,000 schillings. Outside the bank, Berger and Böckel get into a scuffle, during which Böckel manages to pocket most of the money himself. Berger panics because they are attracting too much attention, settles for part of the money, and runs off. He returns to the tailor shop alone to give Kopper back his coat. The two say goodbye, and Kopper gives Berger the robot he has repaired in the meantime—the birthday present for Kopper’s son. Kopper then walks through the streets at dusk. When he finds the robber’s wig and novelty glasses in his coat, he puts on the wig to protect himself from the cold. By chance, he passes the bank that was just robbed. The police mistake him for the robber and threaten him. Kopper becomes short of breath and reaches into his pocket to look for his asthma inhaler. One of the officers thinks he is reaching for a gun and shoots him. Böckel manages to convince the police that the dead Kopper was the bank robber. Berger, however, gets away and is able to meet up with his ex-wife and son, who is already looking forward to his birthday and receives the robot as a present.