"What is Saint to One is not Saint to Other".
The meaning changes from person to person, place to place and from occupation to occupation.** The movie "The Saint" is true to the coined sentence above.
Watched this movie with my better half yesterday and thought of putting it through in this review.
It has a very good plot, the casting is pleasing and the location of the movie is Moscow, Russia. A story about a seasoned gentleman thief who in a bid to end his career on a high with a $50 million, takes a last assignment of stealing a chemical formula of Cold Fusion from a lovely scientist and in the end falls in her love and rescues her from the Russian ruler.
The saint is an adaptation of a Television serial, which is now narrated into a movie which has everything that a movie needs to be a success at the box office.It is pumped with action, suspense, romance, deceit and most importantly a perfect plot that will keep the viewers guessing what is going to happen next. The protagonist keeps disappearing and disguises himself in various masks & faces thus making it difficult for the law enforcing agencies from nabbing him.
Director:- Phillip Noyce
He has chosen a perfect location in Russia, and the cinematography of this movie is excellent. The scene selection and action sequences are plausible.
Cast:-
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Val Kilmer -> Simon Templar (The Saint)
Elisabeth Shue -> Dr. Emma Russell
Rade Serbedzija -> Ivan Tretiak
Valeri Nikolayev -> Ilya Tretiak
Irina Apeximova -> Frankie
Henry Goodman -> Dr. Lev Botvin
Val Kilmer proves his great acting abilities, playing the creative Simon Templar. He's the so-called "saint, " who makes his living as a thief, taking on close-to-impossible tasks to bring in the big bucks. His character is very complex, searching for meaning in life.
We remember Val Kilmer, of the movies like Batman Forever, The Ghost And The Darkness and Island of Dr. Morea fame. These were some amazing movies to enjoy.
Elisabeth Shue is the bubbly book reading and busy scientist kind of girl who intermittently becomes the sexy love interestof the main protagonist, "The Saint" and is looking for her perfect man in life. Which she eventually finds in Val Kilmer's character, but that happens after a lot of suspense and drama in the movie.
Rade Serbedzija, a lesser known actor from the soviet era shows his exceptional acting skills, though he is very well know in Russian and Yugoslavian tele serials.Serbedzija, however, managed to compensate lack of domestic exposure with the start of international career.And the first international Movie of english medium was "The Saint" directed by Phillip Noyce in 1997.
The Plot:
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In the beginning, we see Simon Templar's(Val Kilmer) disturbed childhood of growing up at an orphanage for bs*d children who are all named after Catholic saints, thus incurring the foreshadow of his becoming the so-called "saint."
We are introduced to a gentleman, smart, shrewd and sexy Simon Templar(Val Kilmar) as "The Saint" who had many faces and is expert in deceiving even the smartest of cop on this earth.
Templar's specializes is stealing of data and his clients includes world's most powerful individuals, corporates and government bodies including Russian Govt.. One of his latest client is Ivan Tretiak ( Rade Serbedzija), former Soviet communist boss who became an oil billionaire in new, capitalist and democratic Russia.He has an assignment for Simon, of stealing a chemical formula from a scientist. The formula will help Tretiak to become the most powerful Russian who will control most of the worlds power and energy resourse.
Val Kilmer steals the show in the scenes where he successfyly deceives the scientist and delivers the formula, the chasing sequences and the sudden disappearance from the scene. Wanting to retire from his profession once he breaks an even $50 million, an opportunity arises. His final mission is to steal the formula a chemist is working on for her theory of cold fusion. There is only one problem: he ends up falling in love with this chemist, Dr. Emma J. Russell (Elisabeth Shue).
The scientists Dr. Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue) has discovered cold fusion - a process that brings almost indefinite power supply out of few litres of water. Tretiak needs this formula in order to present himself as a national saviour to the impoverished masses of Russia. Templar uses his seductive abilities in order to steal the formula, but along the way he discovers that he has fallen in love with beautiful, idealistic scientist. That would create serious complications in his relations with Tretiak and his asociates. After he delivers the formula to his client, more problems surface because it's incomplete, and he doesn't get paid. It turns out that his client is a crime lord involved in the Russian mafia, and Simon's on their death list.
The suspense starts getting intense when Dr. Russell chases after Simon to get her formula, and the mafia wants her dead as well. Now, Simon must get paid and try to convince the woman he loves that he's really worthy of his nickname and not such an ill-reputed thief.
Scenes to watch for:
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a) Dr. Emma Russell(Elisabeth Shue) saving Simon Templar(Val Kilmer) after being submerged in ice cold water under the bridge while evading the goons.
b) The Disappearing act of "The Saint", Simon Templar, in the beginning when the Investigating Agencies are in a lookout for a disguissed thief.
c) The cozy and intimate scene (Not Vulgar) where she (Elisabeth Shue) expresses her feelings to Simon Templar(Val Kilmer).
d) Simon Templar's return to save Dr. Emma Russell from the Russian captivity and finally the..Entire MOVIE.. :-)
Verdict:-
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The movie is filled with lots of high tech gadgets, ala James Bond, including a palm-top computer.The first hour of "The Saint" shows promise. Kilmer has a gift for accents and body language, and his constant character transformations are amusing and entertaining. The next hour is completely filled with action filled chases, romance, seduction and stealing of formula from Dr. Emma Russell. The story line itself is pretty impressive and I loved that although it keeps you guessing, you don't end up wondering, "What the hell is going on?' The science side is played down enough for the audience to know it's there but not to get distracted by its details.
The climax of the movie is perfectly shot. "The Saint" lives to its expectation of becoming the perfect saviour of Dr. Emma and finally becomes the perfect man for her.This is definitely worth watching.
