Parceiros No Crime

The film is worth watching primarily because of the beauty of the father (Rutger Hauer) - daughter (Sarah Ashley) relationship. Touching scenes take place between the two characters, showing the true love between a parent who raises his child alone, without a mother. This puts the film in the category of Melodrama. The Crime or Thriller category is a bit softer, well, that's how the script is written. In my humble opinion, an experienced police detective (Hauer) and an equally experienced FBI agent (ex-wife played by the charming Paulina Porizkova), seconded by two more FBI agents, would have realized from the very beginning who the perpetrator could be, more precisely, immediately after the moment when Gene Reardon (Hauer) and Lloyd Dyer (Andrew Dolan) searched, just the two of them, the lockers in the changing rooms. That's how it is in the movies! And, from my own experience, it's not easy to make a perfect film. The important thing is to make one worthy of being watched.

"Partners in Crime" is a surprisingly good little movie. Okay, you know who the villain is in the first half hour, but the story still contains enough surprises to be interesting. Rutger Hauer (who's one of my favorite actors even in bad movies) is very good as a small town detective who's reunited with his ex-wife, a successful FBI agent. He has great scenes with the actress who plays the ex-wife and with the young girl who plays his daughter from a subsequent marriage. For a film that's marketed as a B-movie action flick, there is actually a great deal of character development and some very good performances. If you're bored with everything in the new releases section at the video store, try this one.

I was completely captivated by this movie. For what in year's gone by would have constituted a B movie or secondary feature, this film was excellent down the line. The story is crisp, and without slow spots. The acting is uniformly excellent. And to look at Paulina Porizkova is heavenly. Rutger Hauer is always good, and all acting is under control. The children in this are terrific, especially a beautiful performance by Hauer,s daughter. The directing is superlative; even the dog wasn't obviously looking at his handler off-screen. The pace, photography, sets, were of the highest order. You can watch this one over and over and still enjoy it. Bravo.

I bought this movie the other day for the sole reason that I like Rutger Hauer, I always have since "the Hitcher". The problem is that I always compare him to that movie and he's never done anything that comes near that one again. However, I bought this and watched it, Rutger Hauer is the only this about this movie that's good And he's just doing his job, nothing out of the ordinary.

The plot is quite dull and nothing new. Then they spoil it further by throwing in an ex wife of his... I wish they would concentrate on the actual crime instead, it would be much better. But as I said, Rutger does his job well but not great. This is only for Fans of Rutger Hauer. 5/10

Movie-Man

I guess it's a straight-to-vid, and you won't find any great surprises in it, but it's a pleasant enough way to pass a little time.

Rutger Hauer, now about double his fighting weight, plays a local detective who has to co-operate with the FBI's supervision of a murder/kidnapping. It turns out that the FBI hotshot called in on the case is his ex-wife. And he is now a single dad, and has a precocious ultra-cute daughter from a subsequent wife.

So you can see the cliches will fall fast and furious. And they do, especially when all the clues seem to point to: Rutger Hauer!

Anyway, the most pleasant surprise of the movie is an excellent performance from Paulina Porizkova as the FBI agent. She is natural in the relaxed moments, and capable when she needs to be in charge, and totally believable in the role. You know any other supermodels who can convincingly play a top bureau agent? I really believe she will be top actress, and not in cutesy glamour roles, either.