Now it may only be personal perception, but when I hear the German title "Ein Leben Lang Kurze Hosen Tragen", I think of a relatively light mix of drama and comedy, maybe a coming-of-age film. But this is none of that at all. My guess couldn't be any more wrong. This is a mix of drama and thriller with crime references from start to finish. It is the most known work by writer and director Kai S. Pieck who adapted Paul Moor's book here and also includes direct quotes by Jürgen Bartsch, who is also the protagonist in here. We hear him reflect on his crimes, partially fictitious, partially actual words from Bartsch. I think this is one of the rare occasions when the screenplay and writing is not a problem at all. It was pretty well done I must say and I also liked the ending for example. But I still did not enjoy the watch. This has mostly to do with lead actor Tobias Schenke because from start to finish of this relatively short 80-minute movie I had the impression that I was watching Schenke and not Bartsch. I may be a bit biased here as I never saw a great deal of talent in Schenke, but also he did not manage to win me over with great material, a truly baity character and a pretty good script. And the younger version of Bartsch (many flashbacks) isn't any better. He is played by Sebastian Urzendowsky and he is on the same, maybe even higher, level of overrated for me compared to Schenke. Such a shame, they did not cast more capable actors here as there was certainly the possibility to make this a pretty memorable movie. It is basically with the exception of the previously mentioned flashbacks a one-man show for Schenke and while he had some solid moments, he wasn't up to the challenge to carry this film all alone on his shoulders. Eventually "The Child I Never Was" (the English title) is a relatively similar movie like "Der Totmacher", but in that one Götz George showed everybody what a difference a strong lead performance makes in relation to the overall outcome of the film. So yeah, it's fine this film was made if it gets people to take a look at who Bartsch was and what he did, but from a mere cinematic perspective I cannot recommend this one. I suggest you watch a documentary on him instead or just read the book this is based on. I give this movie a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
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