Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Moving Drama -- Worth seeing more than once, December 9, 1999
This review is from: Saint of Fort Washington [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Hollywood has a way of glamorizing the worst of life's problems and wrapping everything up in happy endings by a film's end. Not so with SAINT. Having dedicated 10 years of my life volunteering with the homeless on the streets of New York City, I can relate firsthand to the characters depicted by Glover and Dillon. There is no question that this movie is realistic. The emotions behind the words, the feelings behind the actions, all of it speaks to the portion of humanity that all of us are guilty of neglecting as we hurry past them on the busy streets. Stop and look, listen and lend a hand. If you buy or rent one drama this year, make it THE SAINT OF FORT WASHINGTON. And hats off to Matt and Danny for portraying a searing vision of homelessness from the bottom of their hearts and souls.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Disturbing Look at a Darker Side of Humanity, October 19, 2001
This review is from: Saint of Fort Washington [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The film borders on melodramatic at times, but the characters are beautiful and their realness add immeasurably to the impact of this film. Danny Glover is brilliant as the caring, street-wise Vietnam vet who takes care of Matt Dillon's character, a young man burdened with untreated schizophrenia. Both are homeless, through no lack of trying, and both are plagued by illness and a few members of a dumb but dangerous gang leader, Little Leroy, played well by a thoroughly nasty and vulgar Ving Rhames, who terrorizes the men's homeless shelter at Fort Washington. Matt Dillon (Matt) plays the most sincere, nice guy on the planet. He's not immune to the fact that he's handicapped by his mental illness, but can't overcome it until he meets Danny Glover (Jerry). Together, armed with a little money and so much spirit (not to mention unrivaled positive attitudes), they set out to slowly climb the "economic ladder" - as Jerry calls it - and meet some of the most extraordinary characters. Unneccesary forshadowing gives the movie a constant feeling of sorrow, doom, and hopelessness, while the characters involved maintain an every-hopefull attitude about the future. Not a happy film, but so well done it's hard not to feel it was money and time well spent. You will be forever changed.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Painful and Excruciating Reality, March 22, 2006
This review is from: Saint of Fort Washington [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I won't deny that this is a difficult film to watch especially if, like me, you have lived in New York City for any length of time (I was born here). It's the story of a homeless man named Jerry (Danny Glover) who takes under his wing a schizophrenic but basically kind, gentle and loving young man named Matthew (Matt Dillon). Jerry helps Matthew adjust to homelessness amidst a bureaucratic system that sabotages the success of anyone trying to escape it. It isn't fully clear why Matthew's mother has abandoned him - though with Matthew's history of mental illness, you get a good idea (horribly cruel as it seems). Jerry not only calls Matthew his son but also names him Saint Matthew, the Saint of Fort Washington (because of his healing touch to those in pain). I think this is an important film for everyone to see at least once (even with the few holes in the story - like why Matthew's mother's neighbor doesn't call to ask if Matthew could stay in his mother's apartment while she is away or why Matthew and Jerry don't go back to their friends' place to stay after the friends leave - maybe those answers were left on the cutting room floor).
We live in a society that's absorbed with money, looks, extreme plastic surgery and so many other things that don't matter, that many people don't ever see the profound suffering around them each day. Not to mention all of the nameless, faceless people whose bodies are interred in the Potter's Field on Hart Island (near the Bronx). Interestingly, I learned after some research, that the term Potter's Field comes from the Gospel of Saint Matthew (27:3-8). After Judas had betrayed Jesus and hanged himself, the 30 pieces of silver he received could not be placed back into the treasury because it was blood money. Instead the first Potter's field was purchased with the silver. I believe the actual meaning of Potter's Field is "Field of Blood." Pretty powerful, no? Just remember, there are many Matthews out there slipping through the cracks all the time. Having volunteered with the homeless in New York, I can tell you firsthand how awful it is just listening to the stories of mostly good, decent people who, for any number of reasons, fell victim to a system that often fails the very people it is meant to help, including the mentally ill. Imagine having to live in these circumstances - often unspeakably violent and terrifying on a daily basis. When you consider that after a day of work (however difficult it may be), you can go home to your own quiet place (however small it may be), buy yourself a meal on the way (even a sandwich for $4.00), and do something as simple as spending $10.00 on a movie or a book, you are richer than you think. I watch this movie on those days when I am especially ungrateful for all that I have - a good reality check indeed.
Matt Dillon's finest performance.
Why isn't this on DVD?
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
