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Story: It’s a beautiful sunny midday and Ron Sheer a handsome CIA Agent is enjoying a peaceful lunch at a street side Bistro. Out of nowhere a man in a blue suit approaches pulls a 45-caliber pistol and shoots Ron three times in the chest killing him instantly. Simone Brio, a waitress witnessing the shooting falls to the floor in terror. As the assailant runs to his car Simone is able to focus enough to memorize the license plate before his car speeds off.
Brad Rainey, Ron’s best friend and recently retired CIA Agent is persuaded by the CIA to crack the murder case. After all this was his best friend so he agrees to take on this last assignment in honor of his fallen friend. Brad's investigation begins with a search of Ron’s where he discovers three fake passports, weapons, various foreign currencies and a toy replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Zena Damani, Ron's girlfriend coincidentally walks into the apartment. She is suspicious and defensive, but when Brad explains his relationship to Ron gives him a key lead by informing him that prior to his death Ron had been doing business in Rome.
Brad soon finds he’s not alone in the investigation, as a CIA Cooperative Gabino, enters the picture informing Brad the investigation is “his business.” This doesn't deter Brad who’s a man on a mission to find his friend's killer. He visits the restaurant where the murder occurred and meets with Simone the waitress. Fearing she’s being watched Simone asks him to come to the back of the restaurant where she quietly slips a folded note bearing the license number of the getaway car. Calling the license number into his office Brad is told that the license identification will take a day or two to complete. In the meantime Brad moves quickly on the other evidence and learns the source of the toy leaning tower is Rome based TFL Toys owned by Giovanni Cavalino, a shrewd man who loves the nightlife. Cavalino frequents a club called The Trocadero, where Brad goes to find him. The meeting is contentious and ends with a warning from Cavalino "Be careful on the streets." A short time later Cavalino visits the Bistro and confronts Simone. His men rough her up then he shoves her down and with kitchen knife slices off two of her fingers as a warning to keep quiet or face more serious consequences.
Brad and Zena meet again and as they are walking down the street are suddenly grazed with machine gun fire from a passing car. They survive the ambush but realize that they are in real danger now. Nevertheless, they head to the TFL Toys to investigate what exactly is going on there. On the way that involves a winding cliffside road they are chased with a terrifying game of hit and miss that sees the chasing car catapult over a cliff exploding in a ball of fire. Brad and Zena make it to the toy factory then go to a hotel to rest. There is romantic chemistry and they make love. As Zena leaves the room for a moment Dulacci a Cavalino hit man enters the room and attempts to kill Brad. A brutal fight breaks ensues culminating in the bathroom where Brad electrocutes his assailant in the tub with a blow dryer. Gabino, the CIA Cooperative arrives and helps Brad cleanup the scene. Later Brad, Zena and Gabino, go back to the toy factory. When they get there they’re met by Cavalino and his men. There’s a violent gun battle where Cavalino is killed, but Gabinio is missing!
Zena and Brad go back to Ron's apartment. As they arrive the phone rings. Brad picks up the receiver. It’s Hansen with the name matched to the getaway license plate. The name he reports is a "Gabino," and he arranges a meeting with Brad and Zena at Ron's gravesite. When they arrive at the cemetery someone comes from behind Gabino and shoots him. As he lays dying Gabino tells Brad that Ron was going after Cavalino and his cocaine operation which involved transporting the drug in the toy towers. Cavalino, was with Mr. Hansen and that the assassination of Ron was staged
Brad and Zena travel to San Francisco where the drugs are being shipped. Once there, they discover Hansen leading the entire project. As Hansen leaves the port in his limo Brad and Zena follow him to "Blue Suit's" to drop off an order of cocaine. Blue Suit a hooded man and Hansen begin to argue then as a warning Blue Suit shoots and kills Hansen's limo driver. When Blue Suit takes off his ski mask, Brad recognizes him as Markum a good friend of Ron Sheer's. They follow Markum to an underground parking garage where the cocaine is being unloading. Brad and Zena are caught by a guard and brought to Markum. Proud to have the privilege of being the "one" to take his captives to the "Boss," he escorts them to Ron Sheer! Ron welcomes his old friend and fakes affection to Zena. She’s disgusted and pulls away from Ron's embrace. Brad questions Ron to think about what he is doing. Ron responds "The CIA was going to use the money to get us into another Vietnam War in Central America, East Africa and South Sea Islands. They were going to use the money to buy guns, bullets and bodies. I am just going to spend the money on more clothes, women and cars." Brad calls him a "Traitor."
Since Ron's two friends are now threats to him, he explains that he’s left with no choice but to kill them. A fight begins and all hell breaks loose . Everyone including Marcum get into the fray. Zena manages to escape down a stairwell. She gets outdoors and slips out of a gate leaving her ring in the door to jar it open for Brad, who’s fighting Markum inside the elevator as it moves down the shaft. Brad finally makes it to the same gate that Zena escaped from. He sees her ring jammed in the door and knows that she got out alive. He follows looking up to find her in her car ready to come to his rescue. However, Ron stands in the way with a machine gun ready to kill. Seeing this, Zena rams her car into Ron and sending him flying over the car with his gun having fallen into Brad’s hands. Ron’s other men now in a Mercedes shoot at Zena's Corvette. Zena is hit and falls out if her moving car. Brad then sprays both cars with machine gun fire for a climatic explosion of both the Corvette and Mercedes.
Brad runs to Zena holds her and the film ends with the beautiful San Francisco skyline as we gradually fade to black and end credits.
Comments:
The plot of this film is great in that it involves the marketable elements of love, love-lost , loyalty, violence, mystery and sex. The plot/story follows structure right from the get go, when the audience is hooked immediately. everyone wants to know who the man in the blue suit was. the sub-plots are great in that again there is a love mission to find out the killer of zena and together they have an equally desired mission to find out the killer of their former lover and friend.
The pace in this film is excellent. It is definitely a page-turner and each scene moves the story forward.
The character development is good. Mr. Rainey has gone from strictly the drive of trying to find his friend's killer to discovering that his friend is a fraud and criminal. upon this knowledge, mr.rainey tries to convince ron that he is a traitor when before on the beach, he admitted that his employment in the CIA was merely for T & A. This shows him go from the nonchalant attitude toward any loyalty or pride associated with the CIA, to an enormous amount. After all, Ron was just getting out of his job what Mr. Rainey said he had gotten out of his.
The setting is seductive and enticing and would do well for shots.
Submission: Recommended Writer: Recommended