Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 13 | Rotten: 31
The Saint is watchable thanks to Kilmer and Shue, but the muddled screenplay stretches credulity.
Average Rating: 4.3/10
Critic Reviews: 15
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 12
The Saint is watchable thanks to Kilmer and Shue, but the muddled screenplay stretches credulity.
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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 65,681
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Based on the popular novels about that other suave, globe-trotting man of action, this genre picture from director Phillip Noyce mixed romance and character development with dangerous stunts, geopolitical intrigue, and a variety of elaborate disguises, resulting in an uneven stew of a spy thriller. Val Kilmer is Simon Templar, a classy, cunning master thief and "man of a thousand faces" who cribs his phony names from those of obscure saints and sells his illegal services to the highest bidder.
PG-13, 1 hr. 56 min.
Apr 4, 1997 Wide
Oct 6, 1998
Paramount
All Critics (45) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (14) | Rotten (31) | DVD (5)
A generic suspenser that doesn't taste bad at first bite but becomes increasingly hard to swallow.
This insufferable romance-adventure includes vague comedy as well as unintentional humor, and its target audience seems to be preadolescents who won't notice the calculated enthusiasm with which it sidesteps sexuality.
Love redeems this profiteer; it also renders him conventional.
Reinvention in the hands of Hollywood is seldom cause for celebration.
There isn't a contemporary film actor more crafty than Val Kilmer -- or one who reveals less of his true self. That's why Kilmer is so perfectly cast as Simon Templar, the master thief and elusive disguise artist of The Saint.
More entertaining than Mission: Impossible or the last Bond film, Goldeneye, it brings back the humour and sang-froid that makes the genre work.
Kilmer slips in and out of a series of ludicrously elaborate disguises, some more convincing than others, while poor Shue shuffles through the role of a sexy, book-reading babe pretending to be a dowdy lady scientist in kneesocks.
There's no lack of style or pace from Noyce, just the sense that it isn't quite gelling together.
The glossy photography is stunning and Kilmer's implausible accents are fun.
There was enough in the movie for me to watch and somewhat enjoy it the whole way through.
Eminently forgettable.
What could have been a cool concept movie buckles under an uninspired script and some treacherous miscasting.
Kilmer should have stuck with his Batman character.
Nothing in the film really makes any sense, and all the other characters seem buffoonish and arch, overplayed to the point of farce, more Matt Helm than James Bond.
The film works, thanks to Noyce's skill in creating suspense and staging elaborate action scenes.
The predictable action-thriller elements are all in place, from coke-sniffing, machine-gun-toting thugs to monotonous narrow escapes. The look is stylish, sound is above average, and the acting only as good as it has to be.
This film ought to make tons of money.
The story that screenwriters Jonathan Hensleigh and Robert S. Baker have concocted keeps bogging down in silly contradictions or cliches.
The script is a mixed bag of elaborate and unnecessary pseudo-politics, intriguing ideas and mostly confusing rehashed romantic mishmash.
Masterfully assembled by director Noyce.
Based on a character created back in 1928, this film tells the story of an expert thief and master of disguise who, in this telling, has all sorts of aliases, all of them named after Catholic saints. The Saint gets involved in all sorts of troubles when his latest caper sees him falling in love and caught up in some
August 3, 2006Super Reviewer
The Saint, for me is a borderline decent action film. The ideas in the film, are good, but poorly executed, and feel kinda cheesy, yet there's something appealing the film too. The Saint for all its flaws, is a fun film to watch. The acting leaves a lot to be desired, but somehow the film is entertaining enough to be
July 3, 2011
Super Reviewer
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