Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Marketic It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

Quiet Muffin This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

RavenGlamDVDCollector 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.

aimless-46 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.

Sean Daniel 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.

michaelzstuff 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.