Silent Partners

An epic mixture of betrayal, intrigue, intensity, violence, moblife, Miami and incredible acting, sharp directing and flawless editing invites the viewer on a time travel back to Miami (circa 1980's) and it's absolutely worth the trip. Charlie Valentine has had enough of playing by other's rules and betrayals. It's time to turn the tables and make that life changing score.

Silent Partners opens up with an amusing banter back and forth between Valentine and Max (played perfectly by Lou Silver). It's the beginning of a slow climb upward of a roller coaster that takes us on an exciting, intense ride that ends.............

Strap yourselves in good. It's a helluva ride and well worth the price of the ticket.

Okay, so I finally watched Silent Partners, that gritty 1980 mafia flick set in Miami, and wow - this movie is a whole vibe. Think: flashy suits, cigars, speedboats, and crime running through every palm tree-lined street. It feels like if Scarface and Goodfellas had a sunburned cousin. It's loud, stylish, a little messy - but totally worth your time. Watch it with the lights low and maybe a cold drink in hand. The acting? Pretty solid. The lead guy's got that perfect mix of charm and menace - you can't tell if you wanna root for him or get as far away from him as possible. And the dialogue is super quotable. It's not a perfect movie - the pacing drags a little in the middle, and some of the side characters are kind of forgettable. But if you're into old-school gangster movies with a Florida twist, it delivers the goods.

Silent Partners is the second Ciro Dapagio/Jokes Yanes collaboration I have really enjoyed (the first being 2023's MobKing). The theme is familiar to those who have watched documentaries and feature films like Cocaine Cowboys, Blow, Scarface, and other ones centered on the Drug Cartel's hold on 1980s Miami.

The story centers on a hitman's (Dapagio) role in life insurance fraud that pays dividends, especially when the Mafia's victims turn up and turn up, they do. Steve Russo is great here as the newly released mob boss. Russo wants in on the insurance scam and everything else Russo believes he is entitled to after not saying anything during his decade behind bars. Dapagio must navigate around undercover COPS, a bookie (well-played by Antoni Corone) with a knack for writing up insurance policies, and alliances within the Mob.

Silent Partners is taut and comes in at less than 90 minutes. The pacing is far better than most crime dramas.

Great time travel back to the roaring 1980s, based on a real insurance scam that I became aware of 20 years ago. Hard money lending gone horribly wrong! Lending money becomes an insured interest that survives to this day (Just googled it, Florida lenders still can request the borrower to buy life insurance and name them as the beneficiaries, which could cause potential crime risks if you think about it carefully. As a CPA and insurance agent, I love chewing on this story. Do you?

Cool story, really great and rare cars, a '66 Riviera Gran Sport, come on!!! I especially love the cigar bar scene with the football reference conversation! Highly recommend you guys to check this out!

I wanted to watch this movie because I'm friends with Antoni Corone. He's such a cool, down to earth guy, and I heard that the film would be streaming free on Tubi.

Depagio did such a great job putting this cast together- and the characters really stand out in the film. What a truly authentic cast of South Florida gangsters and low-life. What stands out is the character ensemble.

What keeps the film from being truly top tier is a needed depth and clarity of story and interconnection of the two main story elements: the corrupt Goody Boys insurance company and the mobster family that they take down by the end.

Antoni Corone plays a Dustin Hoffman-esque character and really shines in his support of Depagio's brooding heavy. Corone's career is full of these supporting cop and gangster types, think We Own The Night- I would love to see what he could do in a lead role.