Silent Partner (2005) User Reviews

Not great, but not bad either

[NickMeron · 6/10 · 27 May 2008]

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.

Slow to start - good story - good car chase scene!

[stuartandrews-1 · 5/10 · 8 December 2006]

The story does get off to a slow start on this one. Taras' acting in the opening sequences is impressive and I'm convinced of the Russian accents from most of the cast (who aren't actually Russian). I did think though that the Director may have cut her lines for the second half of the film, because she tends to grunt and groan more than she speaks. Nick played his character well; the character had very little personality. The car chase scene was particularly good, if you like them, appreciating that this was filmed in Russia, using Russian vehicles. I was disappointed with the scene involving a shoot out. It was poor scripting by having one heavily armed side against one with handguns, leaving it honours even at the end. I certainly wasn't convinced of the authenticity of that scene. To use the analogy of one of the previous comments on this film, it's like The Bourne Identity only slower, and on a much smaller budget, with the actors to match. 5/10 - stick with it to the end if you start to watch it.

Better Than You Might Think

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 12 May 2010]

"Silent Partner" is about CIA agent Gordon Patrick (Moran) who is sent to Russia to investigate the "Death" of Mikhail Garin, a Russian government official. Gordon is met by the American Ambassador (Henry) to help in the case. Gordon finds out that Garin's death was suspicious and finds himself in the company of Dina (Reid) who may know information.

Nick Moran does a decent job. His character is not an action hero, so he does a good job in conveying that. Tara Reid actually does a good job. Her heart is in it and her Russian accent is not bad. Gregg Henry is wasted though. He doesn't do anything. The action scenes are exciting. The car chase was cool and the gunfight was first-rate. Overall, "Silent Partner" is a fun action movie that's getting dumped on video with no fanfare. Don't pass it by.

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Would somebody please reveal the ending?!

[samanteks · 8 February 2010]

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!

watch this one only if you have nothing else to do!

[MichelStoel · 3/10 · 2 March 2006]

The story isn't very strong. Don't expect a "Bourne identity" kind of movie. It started of strong, Tara speaking Russian and it even sounded credible. (Not that I'm the Russian language expert.) Moscow had that darkish depressing look what gave this movie potential, I still believed in it. To bad it only took about half an hour to see they really missed the spot with this one. Acting was poor, maybe because the story itself was not very strong. There is this part in the movie where Gordon Patrick (Nick Moran) is having a conversation on the phone with the C.I.A., like you're listening to a Chinese synchronizer. W.T.F!? Too bad, the writer didn't even take little effort to give the main characters depth. Also, bit of a cheap and easy ending.

Plus point is almost every scene where Tara Reid is in. Not that she's acting that well, in fact, she doesn't. But she really looks great in this movie. Overall, it was a bit of a disappointment. Rental material….maybe.

Bad script. Bad actors

[tftmc07 · 2/10 · 9 October 2013]

This movie is outright horrible. The first thing that caught my attention was the cinematography. It is haphazard at best. Settings in the film are too light or too dark, with a seemingly unending array of angles and shots to film each and every scene. This continues throughout the movie. All the non-stop changing of angles makes the film physically hard to watch. Although at times this does seem to take away that B-Movie feel. But then the rest of the movie happens and quickly reminds you it's a B-Movie, through and through.

One scene shows Tara Reid's character looking in disarray. The camera panned away, turned, changed angles about 20 times in just a couple of seconds. This leaves one dizzy and begging for mercy. It is as though someone thought to direct an entire film the exact cinematography as the "Shower Scene" in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, except in this case the only person getting hurt is you the viewer. Possibly from vertigo, no pun intended.

The dialogue & music actually does hold some parts of the movie together, no matter how horrible the dialogue or music gets. But by far the most annoying feature of this is doesn't make up for the fact every line is spoken in Russian was clearly an overdub, including almost ALL of Tara Reid's few lines. The use of dubbing in post is as obvious as in a 70's Martial Arts Action film from Japan and China in the 70s. Their lips just do not match the words. That applies to most scenes in this movie, ESPECIALLY Tara Reid's lines, which are few and far between.

Overall the movie is hard to follow, not because of its convoluted plot but because of the literally impossible to follow camera movements. This film is not even worth watching, not even for laughs.

Skip It

[Alex-372 · 6/10 · 18 April 2006]

Oh boy. This boring piece of drudgery was made Russia, coming on the heels of a slew of cheap, lower than low budget movies shot in Eastern Europe (at least three of Steven Seagal's movies come to mind).

And I like Tara Reid. She can act, but she is seriously let down by the script and direction.

The main problem I have is the "So What?" factor. An hour into the proceedings there was still no one I could care about. And by extension, I didn't care about the movie itself.

Tara Reid is fine, but casting her as a prostitute who makes a living jacking off fat businessmen is too much typecasting for me. The 'friend' who tells her that she could do a lot better than that is another middle aged fat guy. Gordon Patrick must be the most uncharismatic average Joe, since Andy Robinson in Hellraiser.

I can see how someone could get into it, but it just isn't for me.

Not bad

[a-a-d · 8/10 · 28 September 2006]

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....

Tara Reid can't cut it

[RavenGlamDVDCollector · 6/10 · 5 February 2017]

Check out the keywords on the main page here. "Girl in panties, black panties, black thong, panties." Uhm. Seems I'm not the only one whose favorite scene is "Getting to know Moscow" about 35 minutes in...

But that aside...

I always defend the leading ladies in my poisons of choice. I am known for that. But on this one, I fold. There is no way I can defend Tara Reid here. I should point out that this isn't Hollywood fare, it's some sort of "Russian American Movie Company" with the acronym RAMCO and wow, that says it all, how cool that sounds, they thought, we're RAMCO. Of course a bunch of foreigners who grew up in Siberia in the shadow of a Soviet internment camp doesn't know the first thing about making a movie that would please American audiences. Of course, there are a few RAMCO plants operating here on IMDb and they'd lead you to believe there is some value in this dismal setup. Which explains that glorifying review heading the lot here on IMDb. Truthfully, this movie does get better in the second half, but by time, highly negative opinions have been formed, it's too late.

SILENT PARTNER's first half is kind of anemic, does show spark every now and then, which soon fizzles out, to settle into anemic ways once more. The only reason to watch it is if you're a Tara Reid fan. I am. I've got lots of her titles. She has that dream-girl look. But when it comes to projecting the heroine, I have to admit, her detractors do have a case. She has the looks, but comes across as, well, not really what we soppily-entranced guys had in mind. Here she is cold and unlikable. The script is bad, or rather, the way the plot unfolds, the way it is presented, is bad. Yawn-worthy guys. Deep Russian accents, speaking like bullfrogs, if bullfrogs could talk. Nick Moran, think Seth Cohen of THE O.C. thawing out to be an action hero. Tara is a breath of fresh air whenever she appears. She livens up the dreary procedure of this plodding bureaucratic film. The dramatic flying long blond hair, the fur jacket, denim jeans, boots. It is when the camera moves in close that we see those eyes. They are beautiful. But in the extreme close-up of her face, we also see the fading beauty, she is more like "Wow, should have seen her a couple of years before..." Now she's scampering about in the dregs of a movie, JODIE AND THE PUSSYCATS it sure as hell isn't, this is Tara on the slide, this one had been a bright Hollywood starlet in THE BIG LOBOWSKI, she was barely in it, but filled the screen with magic for the few seconds she was.

The second half features one of the best car chases I've ever seen on film. It reminded me of the chase in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, only this was grounded in everyday reality. Unfortunately, this chase, they missed out on what would have given it more appeal: There is Tara Reid in the car with him, but no chemistry between the two leads during the chase. The dreamy elements are there, the thrill ride, the hot girl, it is amazingly-well filmed, especially considering the preceding doldrums the movie had been in, but yet, an important aspect was overlooked.

But, yes, for those of you who walked out of the theater after half an hour, or switched off the DVD player, giving up on the movie entirely, it did get a whole lot better. But it still doesn't change the final score.

In the end, what really counts, is that I didn't feel much for Tara's character. Loved the outfit though! The legs are the very best! But...

Get DEVIL'S POND or MY BOSS'S DAUGHTER for Tara Reid watching. Tara couldn't save this one, she needed saving herself. Two wrecks really.

A Good film and definitely worth watching

[michaelzstuff · 9/10 · 31 July 2005]

A good film that rates as good as any among all the other films of this genre'. Silent Partner is filled with not only good action and adventure scenes, but also an intelligent plot that commented heavily on the state of Russian affairs. Good acting performances from not only Tara Reid but Nick Moran and Gregg Henry. Well-directed by Writer-Director James Deck.

"Silent Partner" is a straight spy adventure with lots of action and the beautiful Tara Reid. It mixes the best aspects of an action movie with the necessary espionage. Recent films have moved away from the "spy-game" aspect and rely more on large explosions to dazzle the viewer. Reid is as much a partner and foil for Moran as there ever was. She is both seductive and innocent as she is unaware of the plot she gotten herself into. The villains, of course, are memorable here, all the necessary characters for a suspense film are seen here.

Worth viewing.

A Good film and definitely worth watching

[americana_films · 8/10 · 29 November 2005]

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.

watchable to a weekend

[eminkarakus · 28 June 2005]

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

Shoot The Director

[aimless-46 · 30 September 2010]

While it's not in the same class as "Gorky Park" (1983), fans of that film will find many of the same story elements, locations, and production design in "Silent Partner" (2005). It is yet another story of greedy corruption in the post-Communist Soviet Union and like "Gorky Park" it is professionally made with an expensive look and feel.

With a 96-minute running length "Silent Partner" is one of the few films that would not benefit from a little trimming. In fact, by the end you suspect that there has already been considerable trimming; and that the price for keeping all the expensively staged action sequences is the loss of so much narrative material and character development sequences that the story borders on incomprehensible.

It might be useful to keep pen and paper handy during your initial viewing, carefully tracking the assorted physically indistinguishable characters that enter and leave the film without explanation or background details, and then reappear in later sequences. But even this would not enable anyone to adequately sort through the confusion, because it is like tracking a bunch of identical size ants milling around an anthill.

Apparently all this is not in the service of making the story a mental challenge for the viewer. At the end you are supposed to sort through the Hitchcock MacGuffin's and think how cleverly they fooled you. But all they really did was keep you in a state of dazed ignorance because you were not told enough about the motivations and the basic premise to have anticipated much of anything. This means almost every development in the story is its own little "deux ex machina" moment; "a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new character, ability, or object".

In a nutshell, CIA intelligence analyst Gordon Patrick (Nick Moran) is sent to Moscow to investigate of the suicide of Russia's Minister of Finance, Mikhail Garin. The suicide occurred just before the renewal of a massive loan program between the two countries, which has been placed on hold pending Patrick's review of the incident. You learn that the relatively inexperienced agent was chosen by high-level Russian and American interests because he is expected to simply rubber stamp the results of the Soviet's own investigation.

But just prior to his death, Garin entrusted his unsavory daughter Dina (Tara Reid) with a brief case of secrets, which she is trying to turn over to Patrick.

The main problem is that while the crew is good at setting up great shots and staging decent action scenes, the writer/director James D. Deck and the editor are pretty much clueless about how to tell a comprehensible story, build suspense, or make dramatic revelations.

For example, midway into the film Patrick and Dina are being hunted by a nefarious group of agents and/or police (or maybe mercenaries, or maybe police who are moonlighting as mercenaries, or maybe some who are and some are not, or maybe…???), it is never really explained. Gordon wants to come out of the cold and he phones home to set up a meeting at a local restaurant. Things go badly and there is blazing shootout with all sorts of good guys and bad guys banging away at each other with machine guns and running around like a bunch of scalded chimps. No sooner is one guy shot than somebody entirely new to the story pops up from somewhere to continue the fight. Although you can't really tell the bad people from the good people, the real problem for a viewer is that it is impossible to gauge the progress of the confrontation, the director has not bothered to provide even the most basic information about the extent of each side's immediate tactical resources.

Deck needs to be told by his producers that while confusion has its place in a movie, substituting it for suspense is not a good idea.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Tara Reid is hot

[cwcsquared · 19 April 2009]

Too bad there wasn't any nudity, (and there were a couple of scenes where it would have fit the plot line}. Would have helped me to enjoy this a little more. There are the usual car chases and aggressive Soviet police activities. I couldn't believe that there aren't any helicopters for the car chase. The photography was good enough, and the appearance of the actors fits their characters. But the plot line takes a turn that is impossible to believe when the CIA agent decides to rescue a girl (Reid) who claims she will be killed if he leaves the country. An international incident would have occurred if this were real life. And of course there is way to much shooting with nobody hitting anything.

Tara Reid just can't act.

[cambel · 12 April 2010]

I would have hoped that as they were filming scenes in Russia that they would at least have gotten a person with a Russian Accent to TRY to get Tara Reids lines to sound even close to believable. It was horrible watching her, there would be no accent on the majority of the words she spoke, and then she would try to sound foreign by using the word "Zie" instead of The. Wow, great acting there Tara, only problem is, people with a Russian accent don't use that sound when they say "The" in English, so your one foreign word was actually wrong. If you were trying to play somebody who was French or German, then at least your one word would have worked. But it was so awful, it was like listening to those weird Youtubes of Brittnay Spears when she was drunk and pretending she had an English Accent but just sounded like a drunk girl from Louisiana speaking in a funny voice. Tara Reid needs to marry somebody rich and stop trying to be an actress. Or at least stick to parts that don't require any acting. She doesn't seem like a bad person, but she is just unwatchable on screen in this.