Toronto. Miles is a bank teller in a shopping mall who one day finds an imprint leftover of a check note that says: “I have a gun. Hand me all of your money”. Miles realizes that someone is going to rob the bank, so he secretly hides a large amount of cash in his bag. A man disguised as a Santa Claus, Reikle, indeed shows up to rob the bank, but Miles gives him only a small amount of money. When Reikle overhears a TV interview in which Miles blames the robber for stealing 48,000 $, Reikle phones Miles and blackmails him, demanding the 48,000 $. The two try to outsmart each other, and Miles figures a girl who seduced him, Elaine, actually works for Reikle. When Reikle kills Elaine, Miles agrees to hand him the money in the bank, but once there actually tricks the criminal, who gets shot by the security guard.
Excellent heist-film “The Silent Partner” demonstrates a remarkable intrigue-tenacity while unraveling its plot, starting already from its neat twist of the bank robbery element, moving on to advance into a clever cat-and-mouse story about robber Reikle, who blackmails bank teller Miles, only for the latter to defy him and refuse the role of a victim. The way Miles uses his ingenuity and resourcefulness to turn the tables is at times delicious: for instance, Miles follows criminal Reikle and finds out where he lives. Miles then steals a delivery van and parks it right in front of Reikle’s home, and then calls the police, who arrive and arrest Reikle. In another instance, Reikle wants to frame Miles by leaving a corpse in the latter’s apartment, but Miles dumps it in a construction site that gets poured with cement. The meticulous script by Curtis Hanson has that certain genuine factor that engages with ease, and a lot of surprises, details and plot twists will keep the viewers guessing until the end. Elliott Gould is very good as the opportunistic Miles; Christopher Plummer, as the villain Reikle, is disturbing; Celine Lomez works as the mysterious Elaine; whereas it is a treat to spot comedian John Candy in an early, serious role as one of Miles’ friends. It is rare to find a crime film that works so naturally, relying more on sophistication than violence: despite a rather far-fetched ending, an underrated film and a secret recommendation.
Grade:+++
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