“Do you know how insane this is?” Doc Fletcher
Silver Bears sees Caine star as Doc Fletcher, a financial expert working for US crime boss Joe Fiore. Fletcher develops a plan to help launder money by buying a bank in Switzerland. When the scheme is initially met with scorn by the local criminal underworld and they refuse to stump up any cash Fletcher persuades Fiore to finance it all himself. He agrees on the proviso that Fletcher take Fiore’s no good son Albert with him. Everything doesn’t quite go to plan as it soon transpires the bank lined up by Fletcher’s ‘royal’ contact is a tiny organisation on top of a pizza parlour. As he attempts to recover the situation Fletcher finds himself investing in a silver mine, facing a hostile takeover bid and becoming tied up with the dissatisfied wife of a fellow banker.
There is a moment in Silver Bears as Doc Fletcher first arrives in Switzerland when Louis Jourdan, every inch of continental suave and sophistication gets into the front of an open top classic sports car. In the back is Michael Caine donning the blue suit and matching tie he wears for much of the first half of the film. He is squashed in the middle of the back seat and on one side of him is Tony Maschia, a large framed Italian American actor and on the other side is a young Jay Leno sporting what comes dangerously close to being a perm along with a pair of particularly large spectacles. It is what can only be described as an incongruous image. Nobody quite seems to fit in with anybody else or their surroundings. It also somehow sums up Silver Bears, which certainly has plenty of good elements, but at the same time doesn’t ever quite seem to fit together. Just as you are starting to become intrigued by an element of the plot it jumps off into something that feels like it ought to be from a different film and another actor appears who seems equally as out of place as the last one.
There is actually some quite ambitious and interesting storytelling within Silver Bears. The problem comes when it tries to set up all the disparate elements in the first half of the film. When that is finally achieved Silver Bears becomes a lot more enjoyable and there are several elements that salvage an interesting mess from what may otherwise have been an uninteresting mess. Unfortunately, so concerned is the film in setting up the different strands of the story that for at least the first hour it forgets to be funny, which is certainly an issue for a film imagined as a comedy. Even as it improves it certainly isn’t laugh out loud funny, but it does at least raise a few smiles and without having to shoulder quite so much plot development there is more room for a little extra wit in the script.
Part of the issue with the script jumping so regularly from one element to the next is that as you start to become genuinely intrigued by something it quickly disappears from the screen. Perhaps the best example of that comes with the introduction of Charles Cook a trader in silver and his junior colleague Nick Topping played by Charles Gray and Jeremy Clyde respectively. They make for an interesting duo and as they thrash out the makings of a deal and Topping gives a guided tour of the building the film begins to become genuinely engaging. Sadly before you know it the action jumps away again and I was left wishing I could have spent a bit more time with them rather than leaping again to another area of the disparate plot.
It is also around this time that the character of Debbie is introduced, played by Cybill Shepherd. Debbie is the wife of Donald Luckman, a banker sent to buy out Fletcher in order to also get access to a rumoured silver mine. She is dragged along as he attempts his negotiations, left behind as Luckman makes a quick jaunt back to London and generally pretty dissatisfied with how life is going for her. She is also a character that aims very much at the quirky and eccentric side of things. Unfortunately it mostly veers past quirky and instead mostly just comes across as annoying. I wouldn’t particularly place much of the blame for that on Shepherd as when occasionally the balance of the character is more even she does a good job of making Debbie a much more likeable presence. The margin for error between quirky and irritating is perilously small however and it’s a shame that on this occasion it slips far too often to the latter.
Fortunately there are just about enough good things there to keep things afloat. That is particularly the case in the second half with the relationship between Caine and Jourdan’s two-bob Prince being one of them. They have a very pleasing chemistry together and the way their relationship develops is very satisfying. Prince Gianfranco’s sadness as he realises he has been used to mislead Fletcher, “the only friend I’ve ever had in my life” comes across as very genuine and warm. In what could be seen as a microcosm of the film it is then immediately slightly let down by an odd exchange between him and the woman who has lied to them both that leads to an unlikely romance. A very good moment within a scene followed by a strange moment that doesn’t really work and doesn’t quite feel like it fits with the other is essentially Silver Bears in a nutshell.
Caine gives what can only really be described as a very solid performance. This is really a role he could do in his sleep. A touch of charm, the odd moment of shouty exasperation and a neat comic touch. They are all qualities he can bring without really having to try and there is definitely a sense here that there is nothing to really test him. Nonetheless the ability to give such consistently solid performances shouldn’t be overlooked and there are still occasional moments, such as a nice scene where he drunkenly start to break down that hint at the class he brings when given something that little bit more meaty. Its also worth mentioning a scene that offers the opportunity to witness the again somewhat incongruous site of Caine making his way through the desert, still wearing his suit while riding a donkey.
I’ve mentioned Jourdan, Gray and Clyde who are all particularly engaging, but there is also a nice double act of sorts between the intimidating Joss Ackland and Tom Smothers who plays the eager to please Luckman. With Martin Balsam impressive as Fiore and the always wonderful (and in this case particularly flamboyantly dressed) David Warner adding to an already strong cast there is a lot of talent on show, but again nobody really gets enough time with their particular element of the story to make as big an impact as would be ideal. Following on from my comments about Shepherd’s character it is fair to say the female cast get a little bit of a raw deal with Stephane Audran as Shireen also inheriting a fairly odd character and given one scene, which requires her to break down into hysterical laughter that simply doesn’t work. Perhaps most out of place though seems to be Jay Leno in one of his first film roles as Fiore’s son Albert. In a film full of incongruous elements he perhaps stands out as the most extreme example and it isn’t a performance that suggests he made the wrong choice in mostly moving away from acting.
Silver Bears really is a very odd film. Ultimately it is a comedy that isn’t very funny and that is a problem that is difficult to get away from. It feels like there are lots of interesting elements within it and had more focus been placed on any single one of them then maybe the end result would have been more successful. Instead what results is a bit of a mess, but fortunately a mostly fairly watchable mess with some enjoyable performances.
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