22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sutherland Shines in Triplecross Indie Gem!, November 12, 2002
Desert Saints is a surprisingly good 'hitman with a twist' tale by first time writer/director Richard Greenberg. He takes the standard 'assassin's last hit' formula, and shakes it up by introducing FBI agents with their own agendas, a 'plant' who may or may not be falling for the gunman, and, in Kiefer Sutherland, a hero/villain who is ruthless, sexy, and, ultimately, sympathetic. His performance is remarkable, and is matched by Melora Walters, as the latest of his string of doomed accomplices, who is keeping even more secrets than he is! She shows a remarkable range in her role, at times ditzy, at times mysterious and sexy, and, by the film's climax, intelligent and self-sufficient.
For an indie, the cast is first-rate all the way, with the always reliable Jamey Sheridan as a veteran FBI agent, as dedicated to his job as Sutherland is to his; Leslie Stefanson as Sheridan's second-in-command, and the wild card of the operation; and, in a very sexy cameo, Rachel Ticotin, who smolders as a waitress and occasional bedmate for Sutherland.
Greenberg cleverly uses flashbacks and flashforwards to lull the viewer into believing they know how the story will end, then springs a surprise that works extremely well, and will have you paying VERY close attention to detail during the last five minutes! While the ambiguous ending may disappoint some viewers, it offers a clever 'capper' to this tale of betrayal, and works for me!
If you are a fan of Sutherland, or stories with a twist and enough sensuality to raise your heartbeat a few notches, 'Desert Saints' is the film for you!
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Desert saints, March 28, 2003
This was a very good movie. It had a great story line and keeps you interested. Kiefer does a great job and even has a steamy love seen. Very nice.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, March 4, 2004
By A Customer
This is a superb movie in regards to portraying a contract killer. It's almost just like a -How-To- manual from Rex Feral's controversial book Hit Man with the way the story goes. I'm pretty sure the writer and director who made this movie were strongly influenced by that book. What I really appreciated from the flick was that it tried to be as realistic as possible. Sutherland's character constantly forging IDs, being invisible using common creative methods, as well as the movie used common weapons seen today rather than James Bond like gadgets, or giant machine guns so commonly seen today in many dimwitted Hollywood blockbuster style movies.
To me Banks is more of a regular person instead of the James Bond/Rambo type or mafia assassin which may exist but however those people are extremely rare. Because of this it gives a new twist to these types of stories. It's realistic and shows how people are who do this type of work for a living...as bizarre as that seems. Although Sutherland's character is a very ordinary like man to me he's truly playing a realistic professional. Some people who seem to be interviewed about being in this type of work such as "The Iceman"/Richard Kuklinsky seen on HBO whose type is always caught because these type of people aren't concerned with their freedom/life causing them to get into the trade because of that, as well as wanting to be a infamous tough guy often easily seen by true criminals like him or John Gotti type personalities, etc.
Anywayzzz....to stay on topic anyone enjoying this there are two more classics to go with it in my opinion. They're -The Day of the Jackal- (73' Version of course) and -The Mechanic- with Charles Bronson. The Mechanic isn't very popular I guess because it's not simple minded Steven Seagal BS like so many of his movies were.
I highly recommend this movie to people who like to see the mental aspects of subjects like this. It's not going to be the best movie you've ever seen for most people but if you like movies like this then you'll enjoy.
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