THE SAINT
A film review by Perry Mercer
Copyright 1997 Perry Mercer
THE SAINT *1/2 starring: Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue, Rade Serbedzija directed by: Phillip Noyce
It is safe to say that when all else fails, the simple thing to do is go back to those days of yesteryear where a good concept for a movie means invading the vastlands of television graveyards. The latest (and certainly not the last) big screen adaption from the novels and boob tube show of the same name is the glossy, gadget-driven, chameleon-coated THE SAINT. For those of you old enough to remember the Roger Moore version of THE SAINT on television (1967-69) or Ian Oglivy's version (1978), some of you might appreciate the simplistic, charismatic antics of Simon Templar's dashing persona on the small screen. However, THE SAINT featuring brooding star Val Kilmer as an elegant mastermind high-tech thief out to capture a cold fusion formula for the Russians only to realize his love for his intended target Dr. Emma Russell (Shue) seems all rather convoluted, overwrought, and confusing. Kilmer's Simon Templar is supposed to be mysterious to us, to his discovered love Dr. Russell, to his adversaries...even to himself. However the film tries to convey this so-called mystique by constantly burying Kilmer in all these wacky wigs and disguises in a clumsy effort to show us that Simon Templar really does not know who he is or where his identity lies. His only reference in life is to rob and swindle for big lucrative bucks and compare his empty soul to that of revered Catholic saints. The question is who is going to identify with what the coherency of this film is about? THE SAINT has everything going for it: scenic locations in Moscow and London, satisfying action sequences, a beautiful lady here and there, and a colorful host of villains out to destroy our beloved rogue Templar led by a scheming Russian industrialist (Rade Serbedzija). Then why the reservations? Well, just because a film has an intriguing, espionnage-type premise doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be complex to be fascinating. If anything, THE SAINT could have been an effective thriller had it bothered not to indulge itself so much into all the cliched' gadgetry and repetitive suspense stunts that we have all seen a thousand times before. A film like this can be smart, enjoyable, crafty, and cunning without having to be abstract and preposterous. And yet audiences had the nerve to scratch their heads over the premise of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE? Ironically, Val Kilmer seems even more transparent and uninspired as THE SAINT than he ever did as his short stint as the aloof BATMAN. His disguise get-ups are somewhat amusing I must admit, but I'm afraid at this point his Templar doesn't even rise to the occasion as being good enough to be James Bond's wannabe-cousin-spy-in-training. Elisabeth Shue's Dr. Russell is intelligent enough especially when women roles are suppose to be seductive and spicy but not cerebral in these types of films. Still, when it all comes down to it, she is window-dressing as a pseudo Bond girl who never is convincing as a brilliant scientist. Instead, Shue's character comes off as an over-achieving cheerleader on the sidelines.
THE SAINT, much like a world atlas, is all over the map. This film is so riddled with inconsequential vagueness and typical overblown spy- yarn gimmicks that one has nothing to look forward to but seeing Simon Templar dress up as a toothy, hair-challenged geek. If only he and the movie bothered to impersonate a decent coherent action thriller that made sense then that would have been a "saint"-ly thing to do.
Frank rates this film: * 1/2 stars By Frank H. Ochieng
Visit his review site at: http://www.vgt.com/atmovies.html
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews