The Secret Pact (2001)

After witnessing the killing of his parents, a young teenage boy is put in a witness relocation program and sent to a boarding school in Canada to start a new life. He soon befriends a fellow student whom is a hit man looking for him.

Director:

Rodney Gibbons

Writers:

Brian Cameron Fuld, William Lee,

Stars:

Rider Strong, Adam Frost, Lisa Zane

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rider Strong	...	Lenny B. Dalton
Adam Frost	...	Greg Sherman (Steven 'Spence' Spencer)
Lisa Zane	...	Denise Wokowski
John Heard	...	Jerome Carver
Nick Mancuso	...	Dominic Patton
Jack Langedijk	...	Dean Raines
Jason Cavalier	...	Ray Quick
Maude Laurendeau	...	Camille Tremblay
Jeff Saumier	...	Doug Havick
Matt Stone	...	Carl J. Hanuman
Chad Connell	...	Paul Cardiff
Andrew W. Walker	...	Wills (as Andrew Walker)
Matthew Smiley	...	Jeff Teal
James Bradford	...	Randolph Holmes
Guido Mello	...	Ormond Petrucci

Storyline

Greg Sherman watches as two men assassinate his parents. He makes a lucky escape and enters a police protection scheme. His new identity, Steven Spencer (Spence), takes him to a prestigious private high school in Montreal. His parents' killers, however, know his whereabouts, though they do not know what he looks like. The tough but misunderstood son (Lenny Dalton) of a ex-crook is sent into the school under fake papers to find out the identity of Greg Sherman. Spence and Dalton become close after Spence saves Dalton from drowning. Dalton teaches Spence to fight, to stick up for himself against the older boys. They make a pact to always watch each other's backs. As their time progresses, Dalton's list of possible 'Greg Shermans' wears thin and he finally realizes it is his new best friend, Spence. Dalton must make the choice of whether to follow the orders of the men who killed both his father and Spence's parents, and kill the only witness, Spence himself. Interesting story about ...

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Plot Keywords:

high school | teenage boy | swimming lesson | hired killer | witness protection | 

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Genres:

Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Pact

Filming Locations:

Deux-Montagnes, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Allegro Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (1993)

User Reviews

Shoot the writers then the director

I really wanted to like this story and was willing to suspend disbelief but this film just had too many continuity/believability problems to allow that for long.

The two leads are both attractive young men and it was fun watching their friendship form. It was also fun watching the inter-relationships between the other boys but I kept getting distracted by just how unlikely the plot devices were. Also, the next time a head master of a distinguished private school is giving a speech and the best literary reference that he can make in his speech is a lame reference to Great Expectations perhaps the head master's speech should be written out.

Before watching this I'd recommend School Ties (1992) or Dead Poets Society (1989) or The Emperor's Club (2002) or even A Separate Peace (2004) (TV) All have much more convincing plot lines than this.

In two separate spots the "villain" is about to be lurking just around the corner when something saves him. The villain is looking for one kid on a list of about 8 and the kid we KNOW he's looking for keeps making obvious mistakes that would clue in anyone who was really looking in a heartbeat. e.g. claiming to be from Tampa and not knowing whether its on the Atlantic or the Gulf. It also bothered me how dyslexia was tossed about as a plot point without any real understanding or compassion.

The actors did great with what they had to work with but this could have really used at least one more script revision before it got shot.