The Silent Partner (1978)

****½

"It's not about the money. It's about revenge."

I didn't know anything about this film before tonight, only the fact that it starred Elliott Gould. That was all I needed to convince myself that it needed to be dragged to the top of the #missedmoviesofthe70s pile.

It's the story of Miles Cullen (Gould), a bank teller with a steady life who decides to obstruct Reikle (Plummer), a bank robber dressed as Santa of the cash. Instead, Miles pockets the money himself and makes out as if the bank was robbed of the whole amount. Things start to turn ugly though when a brief TV appearance by Miles is spotted by Reikle and he doesn't like finding out the total amount of money that was taken. Knowing he was outsmarted, Reikle decides to go after Miles in a tense and unsettling film that had me gripped from the opening scene.

I don't want to give away anymore of the plot than I have done already, as I want others to enjoy the same experience that I have just had. It's a silent masterpiece that I don't hear many people talking about. For me it should be placed into the same class as The Taking of Pelham 123. Having said that, this film is very dark and disturbing in places. The scene with the fish tank being particularly quite violent.

Gould is amazing as always but it's the performance of Christopher Plummer that makes the film what it is. Forget the mascara and eyeliner, forget even the rather camp gold necklace/chain that he wears throughout. Because yes, he does like to sport some nice silk shirts and dress up a little from time to time, but he's also absolutely terrifying in this and none more so than when he pops open the letterbox at Miles's place. I almost crapped!

It was also nice to see John Candy turn up in a small part as Simonsen who works alongside Miles at the bank. He manages to bag himself a very fine blonde with a wicked t-shirt collection. I kept saying 'want' every time I saw her.

It's an amazing film and highly underrated in my opinion. Check it out if you haven't done so already.

"I'm just going to give you a little time... to try to be reasonable. If you decide you're not going to be reasonable, then one night when you come home, you'll find me *inside*, waiting for you. And that will be the night you'll wish you'd never been born."