This occasionally incoherent crime thriller is distinguished mainly by the romantic chemistry of leads Michael Biehn and Leilani Sarelle Ferrer. Aside from this welcome star-power and a hard-bitten cynicism that informs the actions of both heroes and villains alike, BREACH OF TRUST is
routine crook-chasing. It seems to improvise its wayward scenario as it goes along, and to escalate its violence whenever the plot gets too unwieldy.
Money-launderer Carlos Sanchez (Miguel Sandoval) could pay with his life if he botches a $40,000,000 transfer for his uptight client, Krueger (Ed Lauter). When disgruntled employee Palmer Davis (Kim Coates) tries to extort $2,000,000 from this deal, Carlos scurries to retrieve the account codes
stolen by Davis. Carlos doesn't realize that his own accountant, Rodney Powell (Matt Craven), is Davis's silent partner.
At Davis's pad, Casey (Biehn), an ex-buddy whom Davis cheated out of money, and Madeline (Ferrer), an undercover cop posing as a hooker to investigate Davis, get caught in the crossfire when Davis is killed on Carlos's orders. Intercepting the code disk for Carlos's accounts, mercenary Casey and
straight-laced Madeline narrowly escape Carlos's desperate pursuit. Learning of Davis's untimely death, Rodney sets up Madeline's crooked superior officer, Ellis (Ben Ratner), to throw suspicion off himself.
After Ellis is killed by a car bomb and Madeline herself is nearly killed in a parking garage, she decides to pool resources with Casey even though he operates outside the law. Figuring out Rodney's scam, Madeline decides to locate Carlos's mainframe (hidden in a sewer) and transfer his millions
into an FBI account. When Carlos's men ice Rodney after he reveals Madeline's location, Casey sets up a Madeline-for-disk exchange at a cannery. However, once Madeline deliberately knocks over Carlos's personal computer, Krueger's last chance at laundering is doomed. Enraged, Carlos shoots
Rodney's assistant, Hal (Melvin Cragg). Then, before Krueger pops Carlos, he informs him that he's just wiped out Carlos's entire family. Defeating Carlos's thugs, including main enforcer, Bracco (Vladimir Kulich), Madeline and Casey flee the crime-world rat race. But will they keep the millions
for themselves?
Given its surging level of dishonor among thieves, BREACH OF TRUST should be a lot more potent. Without a scorecard, viewers may feel lost as the principals play hot potato with $40,000,000 worth of computer codes. Grounding all this not-so-grand larceny is the hate-you-love-you rapport between
roguish soldier-of-fortune Casey and no-nonsense peacekeeper Madeline. Although the white-collar crooks, Davis and Powell, are a formidable pair of scoundrels, as embodied by Coates and Craven, it's Biehn and Ferrer who prevent BREACH OF TRUST from imploding from its own plot-devices.
Aside from the sparks struck by Biehn and Ferrer, this crime opus is best enjoyed as a non-stop series of narrow squeaks; each set-piece delivers excitement, but the mini-climaxes don't build to an explosive conclusion. (Graphic violence, extreme profanity, extensive nudity, substance abuse, adult
situations.) leave a comment