SAINT, THE
SYNOPSIS:
The Saint is a thief - successful enough to have some $45
million in his Swiss bank account (which he accesses on his
lap-top). He needs just one more big job to get him to his target
of $50 million and he’ll get out. Quit. The job comes along
all right, and it’s a doozy. To steal the formula for cold
fusion, invented by a beautiful young Oxford scientist, Emma
Russell (Shue), and deliver it to the ambitious Ivan Tretiak
(Serbedzija) in Moscow, whose plan is to take power in the new
Russia. Helped by numerous disguises and gadgets, The Saint sets
about his task, but finds himself under the influence of
Emma’s innocent and sincere nature. Emma is herself in great
danger as the only one able to complete the secret formula, and
they run the gauntlet of Tretiak’s violent son Ilya
(Nikolaev) and his goons in a desperately cold Moscow winter.
"It may be that I’m prejudiced - or my
preconceptions wouldn’t get out of the way - but this aint
The Saint. This seems to me to be some corroded amalgam of Batman
and Bond, perhaps, with a dash of Inspector Gadget. He is
unrecognisable as Simon Templar, the suave, well educated and
super- smooth and acceptably naughty but boyish man, smoothing
his way outside the law. Nor does the script do justice to The
Saint’s legacy of brains over brawn: Simon Templar has more
real class. Perhaps the problem lies in having Americans write
the screenplay, whose terms of reference are Die Hard With A
Vengeance (which is one of the credits of co-writer Jonathan
Hensleigh). Wrong terrain. It follows that I also quibble with
casting Val Kilmer in the role; I also quibble with the
characterisation. Sorry, Phil Noyce, I think you’re a
terrific filmmaker, and I understand you are trying to re-invent
this character from the ground up, but I think this was an error
of judgement. We all do it sometime. I needed some humour in
there to balance the glum. Even if we cast aside the issue of his
un-Saintliness, our hero should be either likeable, approachable
or at least sharply funny. He is too cold and a bit dour for me.
Shue’s scientist character is too faint to be credible, and
the storyline is a tad tired. But there were things I really
liked: the Moscow scenes were wonderfully staged, directed and
designed, and all the supporting cast playing the Moscow Mafia
(and the others) were excellent, credible and fresh. You know
what - I think it needed Aussie writers."
Andrew L. Urban
"While providing action, chases, thrills and spills, the
long awaited screen version of The Saint disappoints. The script
never gels, and while the notion of establishing how Simon
Templar becomes a saint is a good idea, it is overworked and
heavy handed in its execution. Val Kilmer seems uncomfortable in
his role as Simon Templar. Perhaps the role requires the
understated suaveness and elegance of an Englishman, as the
character was originally created by Leslie Charteris. The
disguises are fun, if overdone, but it is the lack of proper
development of characterisation that mars his performance. Kilmer
has shown great range in roles in Ghost and the Darkness, Batman
and The Doors, and this script lets him down. Templar’s
relationship with Emma Russell is not well developed, and so
lacks the emotional satisfaction that it deserves. Elisabeth Shue
is vivaciously innocent in her role as Emma Russell, although I
found it hard to believe that the naïve girl she portrays could
be such a brilliant physicist. Whether Shue and Kimer played
chemistry games off screen, who knows? But on screen there wasn't
much sizzle! The Saint excels in the action scenes, of which
there are plenty, and the Red Square location provides good
colour for much of it. And as for Holland Park’s Halcyon
Hotel, it has undoubtedly never seen so much action."
Louise Keller
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SAINT, THE (M) 15+
(US)
CAST: Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue, Irina Apeximova, Michael
Byrne, Henry Goodman, Yevgeni Lazarev, Valeri Nikolayev
DIRECTOR: Phillip Noyce
PRODUCER: David Brown, Robert Evans, Mace Neufeld
SCRIPT: Jonathan Hensleigh, Wesley Strick (Story by Jonathan
Hensleigh) Based on Leslie Charteris novels)
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Phil Meheux
EDITOR: Terry Rawlings
MUSIC: Graeme Revell III
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Joseph C. Nemec III
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: UIP
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: April 17, 1997
See Andrew L. Urban's interview with Phil Noyce
AUSTRALIAN VIDEO RELEASE: September, 1998
AUSTRALIAN VIDEO DISTRIBUTOR: CIC VIDEO
R.R.P: $24.95
UPCOMING EVENT
RIVERSIDE SNEAK PEEK PREMIERES
A program of premiere screenings of new movies prior to their commercial release
on 4 consecutive Tuesdays - March 10, 17, 24, 31, 2015 - at Riverside Theatre,
Parramatta, Sydney.
Curated & presented by Andrew L. Urban, discussion to
follow with special guests. Briefing notes provided.
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