Partners

The best thing about this movie is its characterizations, or even call them "stereotypes" -- not of personalities, but of the various ways of being kinda dumb, or having "no sense at all" in various situations, and how that interplays with trusting someone, letting your guard down.

It was fun to watch, and warmly humorous. It puts characters we all can see the foibles of right in our face, and asks the question of us, as we're watching, "do you think it will be worth it for, say, the Drifter (Van Dien), or his girlfriend (Vanessa Angel) to trust anyone at all? Short-term? long-term?

The plot twists keep you guessing at the film's answer -- yes, no, yes, no, yes, no, yes ... ??? A fun ride.

This familiar crime caper plot of multiple double-crosses and changing allegiances scores mostly for appealing mix of amusing, well-sketched stereotypes, though by the end of the film enough people have been killed to keep from calling this a comedy. The only real suspense is who will drive off with the money--but who really cares. Casper Van Dien does especially well with a dry-humored Clint Eastwood delivery while David Paymer is central casting's pick for an accounting nerd (actually a computer programmer). Jenifer Lewis as the tough detective in pursuit provides terrific counterpoint. What the film lacks to distinguish it in this low-budget genre is pacing. The banter is not always quick enough and some scenes just lack snap.

Main annoyance was this comedic element where the writer chose to portray the Japanese as talking with a lisp, saying W's instead of R's. That was bizarre. Hello Mr. Writer, velly solly, but what they have a hard time with is R's and L's. They most definitely do NOT talk like Elmer Fudd, okay?

I can't believe that a movie shown on HBO is so unknown... it actually wasn't that bad either... A scientist dork steals a case containing an extremely valuable informatic program and wants to sell it on the black market. This familiar crime caper plot of multiple double-crosses and changing allegiances scores mostly for appealing mix of amusing, well-sketched stereotypes, though by the end of the film enough people have been killed to keep from calling this a comedy.

I would rcommend you watch this film, but do remember that it is B-movie, but quite a good one.

6/10

The cover photo and back cover synopsis made this movie seem like just a drama/thriller, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was a fun comedy! All of the characters have their charming points, and you end up rooting for most of them, even though some are working against each other. There is violence, but it seems laughable because of the way it's treated by the characters. To sum it up, there's a briefcase to be sold, and the original thief of the item, unwillingly gets a partner (Casper), who then unwillingly gets TWO more partners without the FIRST partner's knowledge. This light hearted film is cute and you'll walk away from it with a bit of a grin. Nice work!