Excellent, a Must See

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Factory owner Bierhanzl, a producer of a miraculous ointment against hair loss, mysteriously disappears from a party held at his house, and his physical remains are later found in the bathroom. Better said, only metal parts of his dress testifying that he was dissolved...and drained into sewerage. The puzzling case is investigated by inspector Trachta and his young assistant Hlavacek (who tries hard to learn as much as he can from his experienced mentor). They soon find out that Bierhanzl's ointment was not without temporary side effects (in the form of a complete disappearance of hair) and the affected men, who (temporarily) got mad, ended in a lunatic asylum directed by professor Zalud. However, since this side effect is only temporary, they were soon surprised by a full head of hair and left for San Francisco, in order to become playboys and gigolos. At least, this is stated on postcards that their wives got. But all the postcards look too similar and Trachta suspects that the poor men had a much worse fate...To be honest, I had a hard time to get used to this comedy that is very different from previous movies written by Smoljak and Sverak, one of the most respected screenwriters in the history of the Czech comedic genre. Its theatrical origin is namely pretty visible. Furthermore, the biggest minus of this movie is the performance of Marek Brodsky, who obviously didn't inherit the talent of his famous father (who acted here, too), and basically only mindlessly recites his memorized text. However, over time, this movie became quite popular thanks to some catch-phrases and good jokes (Do you know, how to drive a train with a rifle?) and I gradually started to appreciate it, too. After all, among the current woeful Czech film production, it would be highly above average.