White Sands (1992)

Simply Perfect

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

"White Sands" is a stylish thriller with numerous twists and turns and a collection of characters who frequently aren't who they appear to be. It's also a great looking and atmospheric film with stunning scenery and marvellous cinematography by Peter Menzies Jnr. The story begins as an investigation into a mystery which could involve murder and then develops into the uncovering of a great deal of corruption and even a conspiracy which may be politically motivated.When a dead body's found in the desert and Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal (Willem Dafoe) goes out to investigate, he isn't sure whether the dead man, who had a gun in his hand and a suitcase with $500,000 in it, had committed suicide or been murdered. Dolezal discovers that the man's name was Bob Spenser and then decides to pose as Spenser in order to continue his investigations. Dolezal rings a telephone number found on a piece of paper in Spenser's stomach during the autopsy and this leads to him arranging a meeting at a motel where he gets attacked and robbed of the money in the suitcase. The two women who attacked him then give him instructions to get in touch with Gorman Lennox (Mickey Rourke).Before he contacts Lennox, Dolezal gets abducted by an FBI agent called Greg Meeker (Samuel L Jackson) who explains that Spenser was working for him and agrees that Dolezal should carry on posing as Spenser in order to try to recover the lost money.After meeting with Lennox and his associate, Lane Bodine (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Dolezal finds himself embroiled in a deal to buy some illegal weapons from a couple of dealers who unexpectedly demand a further $250,000 to complete the sale. Meeker is unwilling to provide the extra money and so Dolezal gets romantically involved with the wealthy and well connected Bodine as a means of getting her to raise the extra money.Further complications arise when two FBI officers from Internal Affairs pursue Dolezal because they think that he killed Spenser and stole the money and also one of Spenser's girlfriends provides Dolezal with some potentially helpful information. Furthermore, when he realises that he's become involved in an even wider conspiracy involving the CIA, he then takes an unconventional course of action which leads to what he regards as a satisfactory conclusion.This movie features a cast of top quality actors whose excellent performances are vital to its success and the pace of the action is great, especially considering the plot's many complications and unexpected developments. Ultimately, it's an extremely enjoyable and absorbing tale of a man whose boredom with his mundane life leads him to take the opportunity for some excitement by taking on a case where he soon finds that he's completely out of his depth.

Trying to figure out "White Sands" is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with quite a few missing pieces. This overcomplicated movie challenges the viewer's understanding way too much, and eventually you will lose interest. It really is a shame because the cast gives their best effort with what is a severely disjointed script. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and the blue Corvette are easy on the eyes, but it's not enough to maintain momentum, and the whole thing derails twenty minutes in and never recovers. True there are a few strong scenes, but a plethora of dead material is unfortunately connecting them. Not recommended. - MERK

Roger Donaldson always distinct itself by making mediocre films. Just think of movies like "Cocktail", "Species", "Dante's Peak" and the remakes of "No Way Out" and "The Getaway". Now most of this movies showed some great potential but yet somehow Donaldson manages to not let this movie pass the mark of average. I really liked his movie "Thirteen Days" though, which was just great but this mostly was due to its compelling historic tense story. Even that movie shows great flaws in the directing. Even though he doesn't make that great movies he still makes well known wells, which also really is an accomplishment, I must admit.I'm afraid that this movie is also a typical example of a Roger Donaldson movie. The concept of the movie sounds just great and shows more than enough potential to create a tense and original thriller with, with perhaps even noir elements in it. And also just look at the cast, how could you go wrong with this? The movie is still a decent one but it leaves lots of potential unused. The movie is not really ever tense or mysterious, mostly because of the reason that the story always stays way too vague and overcomplicated with twists that don't always seem to make credible sense. In the end you just simply stop caring about the story and its characters.It's an amazing cast if you look at it. It features stars such as Willem Dafoe, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Mickey Rourke, M. Emmet Walsh, Miguel Sandoval, James Rebhorn and also actors who weren't big stars yet at the time such as Samuel L. Jackson and Maura Tierney. The actors all do their very best but at times they're obviously struggling with the confusing script and formulaic dialog. See it or don't. It's not a bad movie but it ain't a recommendable one either.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Here is another modern-day film-noir, featuring interesting characters played by a diverse cast. That cast is led by Willem Dafoe, who reminds me a lot of another noir actor, Dan Duryea.There is the usual corrupt government/military officials angle but the plot does have a few neat twists and is generally a non-nonsense kind of story. However, I did find the storyline a bit confusing, especially in the last half hour. On a second viewing, five years later, a few things cleared up but not a lot. I guess it will take looks to figure out everything, especially the very end.I'm not usually a fan of Elizabeth Mastrantonio, but I thought she was exceptional in here: by far, the best and most interesting character. The movie has a nice soundtrack. Overall, the good outweighs the bad and the somewhat confusing story helps draw me back for future viewings.Aside notes: this must have been one of Samuel L. Jackson's first films because he was listed as "Sam Jackson" in the closing credits. Unbilled were three always-interesting actors: Fred Thompson, Mimi Rogers and Jack P. Ryan.