Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

During the late-1990s Curtis Hanson directed three movies that I liked: “The River Wild” (1994), “L.A. Confidential” (1997), and “Wonder Boys” (2000). I more than liked “Wonder Boys,” one of the first movies about which I epined. Since then he made the acclaimed Eminem documentary “8 Mile” (2002), and the fictional “In Her Shoes” (2005).

Hanson wrote the screenplays for  “L.A. Confidential” and for the most recent movie he directed and produced, “Lucky You” (2007). Earlier, he wrote screenplays for  Sam Fuller’s screen adaptation of Romain Gary’s “White Dog” (1982), Carroll Ballard’s “Never Cry Wolf” (1983), and the bank robbery-centered “The Silent Partner” (1978). The last was directed by Daryl Duke, who mostly worked on television (I Heard the Owl Call My Name,1973).

I have to say that Hanson’s screenplay for “The Silent Partner” coulda/shoulda been better. The movie’s advertising slogan was that it “begins with a crime of sheer genius and builds to a climax of sheer terror.” It is not a total surprise that both of those “sheer” are hyperbole.

The movie begins with Cullen (Elliott Gould)  the seemingly dedicated head teller of a bank in downtown Toronto realizing that a man dressed as Santa Claus (Toronto native Christopher Plummer)  is casing out the bank and observing when a merchant deposits cash each day.

Cullen puts the deposits in his own box under the cash drawer, so that when Santa Claus strikes and empties the till as ordered, there are only a few hundred dollars in the take. The silent alarm is triggered by removing all the hundred-dollar bills.

Fleeing, Santa pulls out a pistol, so it was “armed robbery.” Cullen puts the take in a safety deposit box in the bank. He is in a position to fake the paperwork that is usually done by Julie (Susannah York). Julie is having an affair with the married bank manager, Charles Packard (Michael Kirby) who recurrently asks Cullen to squire Julie, not least to the Christmas party at his home, presided over by his wife. Another romance involves Toronto native John Candy and a buxom new bank employee (Gail Dahms).

Of course, a romance develops between Cullen and Julie, though the erotic heat is supplied by Elaine (Céline Lomez), who is a double agent in the game of love, bearing some visible scars from Harry (the bank robber) who is wanted by the police for roughing up a prostitute. Harry is a nasty psychopath and infuriated to have been outsmarted in the bank robbery. His campaign of terror (not least in using a woman loved by his antagonist) seems to owe something to “Cape Fear.”

Though Harry is very violent with women, he never seems a grave threat to Cullen. Cullen works on chess problems in his studio apartment, and Hanson blew a chance for Harry to make moves on the chess board, which is often shown (also Cullen hides behind a chess book following Harry on a TTC train). Harry rightly intuits that Cullen is playing with the money Harry risked being shot to take. Many people underestimate the nebbish bank teller, but Cullen underestimates how psychotic Harry is. He is far badder than Billy Bob Thornton’s “Bad Santa,” in a later Christmas heist movie.

I’m surprised that French-Canadian actress Céline Lomez did not become a star. The unlikely stardom of Elliot Gould was ending, though he and Susannah York have continued to work, while Christopher Plummer has prospered (The Insider, The Last Station, etc.). The verdict on Curtis Hanson is not due yet. Duke is dead and his direction of “The Silent Partner” is uninspired, though perhaps he should be given some credit for the performances, which are quite good. And for securing Oscar Peterson to do the musical score.

I was living in Toronto at the time the movie was made and being paid in Canadian dollars, and I find the amount of money (45K Canadian dollars when the Canadian dollar was weak following the PQ taking power in Québec) small for the dangers and efforts of the characters, though quite a bit for one teller’s cash drawer.

There are no DVD bonus features for a film that has been unpromoted in theaters, on VHS, and on DVD. There is not even a trailer included on the disc.

©2010, Stephen O. Murray

With Santa Claus, Christmas decorations, and a Christmas party, this review is for Bruguru's 4th Christmas in July writeoff. Filmed in Toronto with Plummer and Candy and a Canadian director, it's also aimed at elvisdo's 2010 Canadiana Write Off.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD