Silent Partner

My son was watching this on HBO, and asked me to join him. If not for the fun we had making fun of the movie, it would have been an unfortunate waste of time. You have Tara Reid as a Russian (?!) named Dina, and her unlikely partner Gordon magically dodging teams of KGB and other "bad guys", both during car chases and running down the street (sans bullet-proof vests) and yet remaining completely unscathed.

Further, although their pictures have appeared on national television, and they have done nothing to alter their appearance, no one seems to take any notice of them. You would think that some Russians would stare at Tara Reid and her platinum blond hair and big blue eyes, *anyway* - regardless of whether they knew she was wanted. But then again, just which Russians would notice them? In this film, the streets of Moscow are barely populated. And also, it seems that Russians won't buy a microwave without first seeing it "in action" - as all of the microwaves on the store shelves are plugged in, ready to heat.

In general, the movie is a mess. I couldn't spoil the ending if I tried, because there's no "there" there. If somebody can actually state how the plot is resolved, please tell us!

I am awed by the caliber of this film. James Deck has made a moderately good screenplay into an outstanding political thriller.

The complexity of the film is particularly challenging. The plot begins with several different threads that interweave somewhere during the story. Director/Writer James Deck takes apart those threads and models a film based on the two protagonists, Reid and Moran. The myriad of supporting actors (including Gregg Henry ) that appear on screen subsequently all have distinct but nonetheless crucial roles to the plot.

Moran, in what is and will probably be his career best role ever, shines as the intelligent and patriotic Gordon Patrick, a thinking man's hero. Reid lends incredible presence, as usual, to her interpretation of Dina.

Gordon Patrick, young analyst of the CIA, should investigate the mysterious death of an important Russian politician. Soon it does friendship with Dina, an intelligent youth with a secret past.

And she carries directly to a dangerous point without return, in which the more he advances more dangerous he returns : crime organized, political murders and the murky financing of a campaign, they are only the tip of the iceberg.

Finally , Gordon should be faced to a brutal reality: those in which has trusted they are in which should never have believed

The whole thing at the above is a snack worth for a weekend

A lot of people have to hate a film for it to score so poorly.

I do not get why. This low budget thriller has an interesting story, except for the ambiguous ending, some decent action, a Joe Everyman hero, and (you could tell Russians made it) way more interesting than typical cinematography, camera work, and music than a typical American cheapo.

Yes, we have met all these characters before, but some care was put into the production. I felt it was better than average, worth seeing once anyway. There is a huge amount of worse crap out there, particularly in the action / thriller categories.

I spent a little time in Eastern Europe, and they definitely convey the feel of the place. Except that the amount of shooting in the biggest fight scene would have drawn enough regular cops to suppress both sides and arrest everybody for something. Until the bad guys got let out by their patrons.

The last third of the movie went downhill and was not as good as the rest.

No stupid bond-style humour. Decent depiction of Moscow, Russia (I ought to know, since I live here). Rather entertaining...

There were only two strange things to it: 1. the ending left everyone clueless as to what actually happened (although, as someone here mentioned, that might just be a lead-in into a sequel) 2. the main characters never bothered to mask themselves or even put on some sunglasses while on the streets, even when national television reported that they were wanted terrorists, and, strangely enough, no one bothered to recognize them (come to think of it, the streets of Moscow, the largest city on the continent, were, curiously enough, completely empty, except for one or two scenes) Probably nothing to call home about, unless you are fans of Moran or Reid, but there are certainly much worse ways to spend an evening. Beats James Bond movies....