There are usually many gifts for a 60th birthday. The robber Hotzenplotz even gets a movie for this occasion, the fourth.

Well-known actors such as Gert Fröbe and Armin Rohde played the crook from the world-famous children's book by Otfried Preussler (1923-2013), which was published on August 1, 1962. Now the Viennese film and theater actor Nicholas Ofczarek plays the villain who steals the grandmother's singing coffee grinder and is pursued not only by sergeant Dimpflmoser, but also by Kasperl and Seppel.

Loving and with a lot of humor

The new edition tells the well-known story with a lot of humor, lovingly and entertaining, even if you already know it inside and out. Ofczarek ("Nightlife") turns Hotzenplotz into a rough-and-tumble and mischievous fellow in a ragged robber's outfit and a shaggy full beard, who on the one hand is torn, but on the other hand keeps falling into the traps that Kasperl and Seppel set for him. With all the sympathy for the two friends and the grandmother, Ofczarek also lets you sympathize with his robber.

But the friends Kasperl and Seppel, excellently played by Hans Marquardt and Benedikt Jenke, have nothing left for such sentimentalities. They want to confront Hotzenplotz, but fall into the trap themselves.

Magician and facial acrobat

August Diehl ("A Hidden Life") gives great pleasure as the magician Petrosilius Zwackelmann. He performs incredible facial acrobatics, twists his mouth, rolls his eyes, screams, whispers, rages and laughs - all with grotesquely protruding, crooked teeth. A megalomaniac wizard with only one weakness: potatoes.

A difficult task for sergeant Dimpflmoser, who is no match for the crooks. Olli Dittrich ("Strafe") plays him with zeal and lets the overly correct official stumble from one mishap to the next, to the delight of the young and old spectators.

For the role of the grandmother, director Michael Krummenacher was able to win over the film and theater actress Hedi Kriegskotte ("Magda does that"), who plays her part endearingly and with a wink. Christiane Paul ("Borga") plays the mysterious widow Schlotterbeck, Luna Wedler ("Dem Horizont so nah") the beautiful fairy Amaryllis.

Witch, ghost and Hotzenplotz

But why film the children's book again? The drive arose from the good and trusting relationship with Preussler's daughter Susanne Preussler-Bitsch, explain the producers of the Munich company Claussen Putz, who have also brought the books "The Little Witch" and "The Little Ghost" to the screen. They want to create a family classic for the next 15 to 20 years. They succeeded, although predecessors such as "Der Räuber Hotzenplotz" from 2006 with Armin Rohde, Christiane Hörbiger, Katharina Thalbach and Barbara Schöneberger are still worth seeing today.

But even if an afternoon of film on the sofa is tempting: You shouldn't miss the movie, as it offers a good hour and a half of great fun for the whole family. "The robber Hotzenplotz" is relaxing, also because you can watch the others calmly and perhaps a little maliciously as they get angry, for example the "great magician Petrosilius Zwackelmann": "Oh, this Hotzenplotz, this damned idiot!".

The robber Hotzenplotz, Germany 2022, 106 min., FSK from 0, by Michael Krummenacher, with Nicholas Ofczarek, August Diehl and Hedi Kriegskotte