Ein Sack voll Geld (2002)

In the quiet town of Meißen, Wolfgang Paschke delivers Christmas parcels. He enjoys the appreciation he receives from the people there, whose names and addresses he knows—and often their very personal stories, too. For example, every year he gives old Mrs. Kringel a parcel himself, supposedly from her son in America, whom she always hopes in vain will get in touch. Paschke himself, however, has barely enough to live on, since a parcel delivery driver does not earn much. He is also behind on his mortgage payments, and when the cash machine keeps his card because his account is overdrawn, he is at a loss. But when he finds a sack full of money in his delivery van after the company Christmas party, he almost starts believing in Santa Claus again. In fact, two bank robbers had hidden their loot there so they could escape the crime scene without being recognized. Television reports quickly make it clear to Paschke who the money belongs to, and he wants to return it. But because his company van was parked very close to the crime scene, Paschke is mistaken for a bank robber, and the real thieves are now after him, too, to get their loot back. The sack of money, however, has accidentally ended up among the donations for the church community. Getting it back proves difficult, so Paschke lets the pastor persuade him to help out as one of the Santas handing out presents. He hopes this way to take the sack back without anyone noticing, but whichever one he gets hold of, it is always the wrong one. After finally finding the right sack, he is caught by the two bank robbers. But he manages to escape with the sack. To avoid being recognized, he stays dressed as Santa Claus and takes the sack to Mrs. Kringel. She has already read the newspaper and learned that Paschke is wanted. But she also believes he is innocent and urges him to return the money. He tries to do so and is surprised when the bank director does not want the sack back at all. Meanwhile, the bank robbers are frantically searching for their loot and chase after every Santa they see in the small town. In the meantime, Mrs. Kringel counts the contents of Paschke’s sack and discovers that it contains “only” just under half a million euros, even though the bank director had claimed that at least one million euros had supposedly been stolen. Nevertheless, she takes it back to the bank, and after the real bank robbers are caught, Paschke is cleared. He receives not only a five-percent finder’s fee, but also helps the police bring bank director Staudinger to justice, as he is about to make off with half a million euros. Mrs. Kringel also has a happy Christmas this year, because her son unexpectedly comes to visit with his family.