Vodkaa, komisario Palmu

This one just doesn't fit in the Palmu series and is sometimes seen as the black sheep. First time in colour, fourth Palmu movie mixes unfaithful lovers and jealous killers, corrupted politicians and left-wing idealistic reporters trying to expose these bad guys.

In this one charismatic Palmu is already retired from police work. Matti Ranin's character (Virta) is nowadays a strict parliament lap-dog and Kokki ("cook" in Finnish) -- surprise, surprise -- owner of a restaurant. Palmu gathers together with Kokki for his last case and pressure between Virta & Palmu gets heated as Palmu is working for the media and Virta for the state. Sadly, old Palmu is a senile husband, not detective with a razor-sharp wit like he used to be.

This is a half-assed attempt to create something more epic than the last Palmu movies and their grassroot level crimes and situations. This is more of a brave Soviet agents go James Bond in Finland than a Palmu movie -- with some obvious tension between Finland and Soviet Union, something non-Finnish viewer might not see. **/*****