The Criminal Quartet () is a 1989 Soviet action film directed by .
In May 1989, four friends who grew up together in an orphanageâÂÂinvestigator Semyon Portnoy, police officers Marat Mukhanov and Pyotr Saraev, and journalist Nikolai LarinâÂÂare drawn into a dangerous mission when PortnoyâÂÂs eight-year-old son, Anton, is kidnapped. Portnoy recently uncovered major fraud at a local shoe factory involving shipments of defective shoes and sealed off the factoryâÂÂs warehouse. The factory's management, in retaliation, orchestrates AntonâÂÂs abduction and demands Portnoy lift the warehouseâÂÂs security in exchange for his sonâÂÂs safety. With little time and no guarantee of AntonâÂÂs return, Portnoy calls on his old friends for help. Mukhanov manages to reroute a train car containing the defective goods to buy them time, Saraev intimidates an accomplice of the factory managers into revealing inside information, and Larin publishes an article on the substandard shoes to draw the criminals out, even risking his own safety when heâÂÂs kidnapped and then released.
The group then follows a trail of clues, ultimately confronting the criminals in an intense showdown. Larin recalls hearing Beatles songs while he was held captive, leading the friends to deduce the locationâÂÂa poolâÂÂwhere they discover the factory heads hiding. During the standoff, one of the criminals reveals that Anton is held near the cityâÂÂs water treatment plant, and gang members are already on their way to intercept the diverted train car. Mukhanov instructs the guards at the rail yard to hold their ground without revealing their police identities, while the four friends engage in a brutal fight at the treatment plant. Although Portnoy is injured, they overcome the gang, and Mukhanov negotiates with AntonâÂÂs captor, Uncle Lyova, to let him go in exchange for safe passage. Meanwhile, police capture the remaining gang members at the rail yard. The film concludes with mock-documentary titles revealing the fates of the characters and the downfall of the corrupt shoe factory.