Vincent Ross treads water in "Polizeiruf 110"
The Brandenburg detective now has four cases on the clock, two of them as the main officer in charge. Starting out with eyeliner, a dress and an extra kick, the beautiful events surrounding Vincent Ross are currently stagnating somewhat, so even the chic coat is of little use.
"Great!" was the conclusion of n-tv.de author Julian Vetten 's quick check at the end of January 2022. It was about the case "Hilde's Inheritance" and thus the first "Polizeiruf 110" assignment of André Kaczmarczyk as detective inspector candidate Vincent Ross. "In addition to the brilliant cast and the intelligently told plot, scriptwriter Anika Wangard and director Eoin Moore have managed to catapult the gender discussion out of the ivory tower of the feuilleton and into the middle of life - without the doggedness with which many other formats are currently dealing with the topic."
The newcomer wore a skirt and eyeliner and quite casually dispelled some prejudices, convincing with a mix of empathy and a subtle quirkiness. We gave him 9.5 points for the first, 8 for the second, "Abgrund", and 7.5 for the third, "Der Gott des Bankrotts". With "Cottbus kopflos!", the Brandenburg branch landed well below the line for the first time. Of course, this is all a matter of taste, a question of the form of the day and due to a development with fluctuations both upwards and downwards, but let's be honest: Vincent Ross is treading water, there's no other way to put it.
Once conceived by the Wangard/Moore tandem as a fighter against stereotypes, as a protagonist who was destined to break down some icy prejudices, Vincent Ross was the first to appear. There's no question that anyone who encounters the police in real-life hotspots will probably look in vain for someone like him, with Bono's sunglasses, lip gloss and leggings, but as we all know, anything, not to say everything, is possible in slipper cinema, so be it. Heroes are needed today more than ever.
Commonplaces and mimicry of sensitivities
But just under two years after Ross' maiden voyage, the disdainful normality has set in. A vinyl coat, gold chain, open shirt and a chronically mocking look - the inclusive inspector is ready? Surely that can't be it. It has to be said that a lot of things went wrong in "Cottbus headless" anyway. The case involving the motif car maker Bukol was one of those micro-organisms that felt a bit unimportant after just fifteen minutes, especially as one or two more contemporaries were not brought around the corner quickly, as a tension-preserving shock effect, so to speak.
Instead, the bingo card was filled with platitudes, it was always about the motif car, the cast over-acted between drama and supposed suspense. Faces were held with tiring regularity, there was practically no scene in which the action was not traced by facial expressions as if with a broken eyeliner pencil. And then, in a crime thriller made in 2023, two detectives actually talk about the quality of the coffee? Don't let Dale Cooper hear that.
Seriously, Vincent deserves more. Give him his own apartment, a little private life, a glass of milk, a tuba. Let him sing, go to soccer or a punk concert. Or go for a drink with his colleagues Rogov and Luschke. That worked quite well in Rostock, didn't it?
Source: www.ntv.de
