Desert Saints (2002)

Masterful Movie

Best movie of this year hands down!

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A surprisingly entertaining movie , "Desert Saints" offers a subtle yet scary Kiefer Sutherland as a refined and resourceful hit man who fastidiously buries his kill in the desert as neatly as a teacher erasing a problem from a whiteboard. It also has more twists and turns than a sidewinder going after a kangaroo rat. Sutherland, who, by this time, could do this part in cruise control, instead turns in an edgy, sympathetic three-dimensional performance that's full-blooded while remaining cold-blooded. Come along for the ride as professional assassin Arthur Banks (Kiefer Sutherland) picks up hitchhiking Bennie Harper (Melora Walters-- "Magnolia"), a well-built waif with an interestingly irregular profile and a childishness that is not at all naïve.The car's a bit crowded because there are two more passengers -- Temptation and Treachery. This pair of backseat drivers are going to have a lot to say about how this very bumpy ride along the country's most arid landscape is going to end. On the trail of the murderous Mr. Banks is the FBI, in the person of the always welcome Jamey Sheridan (Capt. Deakins in "Law & Order -- Criminal Intent" and the very frightening good ol' boy from Hell in the TV miniseries made from Stephen King's "The Stand") as Special Agent George Scanlon, a cop with a grudge and a long memory. Riding shotgun with him is Agent Donna Marbury ( Leslie Stefanson -- 1999's "The General's Daughter"), whose violet-blue eyes see much more than she's telling. In his first film as director, long-time assistant director Richard Greenberg ("Jumpin' Jack Flash") , also credited as the writer, doesn't let up the tension for a minute and his outstanding cast never let him down. Some very nice acting, crisp, often funny dialogue, and jump-out-of-your-skin goings-on make "Desert Saints" an oasis in the too-often barren terrain of made-for-TV thrillers.

I bought the DVD as part of a promotion package, looking for movies that I would probably not enjoy very much, but that would be entertaining enough to watch while working out on my cross trainer (movies I wouldn't want to waste time at otherwise). But man, was I mistaken. It was complete horror watching this. The positive thing was that the anger and frustration that built up inside of me while watching it, could be unleashed in my workout (although I still have some left to write this comment). But I was close to tearing it out of my DVD player and destroying the Thing. A total disgrace. Beforehand I thought it might even turn out to be an OK movie, as Keifer Sutherland is definitely not the worst actor out there, but I'm surprised he got work after participating in this, this... rrrrr. The acting and screenplay are so painful, I was thinking at one point this must be a spoof. But even then, it would have been a sick, sick joke. If you try and copy from other movies, if you use so many clichés, at the very least (I mean, you have examples right?) try and reach a minimum level of quality. Enough time wasted on this. There's nothing that I can think of that could be a bigger waste of time than this movie. Watching the toilet flush for 88 minutes will be a better investment than watching this mindless, pretentious, lifeless eyesore.

At the movie's start, Mr. and Mrs. Pelham (not their real names) are checking into a fancy hotel for their honeymoon.Then we see the man in the green Nova burying a dead body in the desert, apparently in the American southwest. Well, actually, there's a little more to the scene, but I don't want to give away too much.The man in the Nova goes to the truck stop where Dora is a waitress to eat, and then he continues on his way after dessert. When he needs gas, he discovers Bennie, who explains that she is going west to start a new life, but her car has broken down and she has no more money to get it fixed. The man gives Bennie a ride, and later she explains that her husband Byron was abusive.FBI agents Scanlon and Marbury are in search of hit man Arthur Banks. They need evidence that he has actually done something in order to bring him in, and their intention is to get him to testify against those who hired him.Bennie and her mysterious friend spend the rest of the movie either on the way to do another job in Mexico, or on the run from the FBI. A number of plot twists are introduced to keep things interesting. Still, the movie is hard to follow because we keep seeing flashbacks or scenes that haven't happened yet. That scene with the honeymoon couple is shown two more times, each time with a little more detail. Some of the flashbacks are helpful because they help us understand what is going on in the present.Kiefer Sutherland does a capable job here, although I suspect he is better in "24" (which I have never seen other than a few clips). I just didn't quite see Emmy quality here.But it was Melora Walters who really made the movie work for me. Bennie was tough and intelligent but adorable and sometimes funny.There were several violent scenes, and while some of the results of violence looked quite graphic, the violence itself wasn't that bad. The language had apparently been cleaned up a lot for TV, and there was also some sexual content.Overall, it was an okay adventure.

i dunno what movie the other guy was watching, cuz first of all the movie is only an hour and a half and moves smoothly. keifer sutherland just continues to be the man (24 the best show on television, quite possibly ever) and plays a cool emotionless hitman. im really not gonna spend alot of time on this just want to see i really loved this movie and had a great ending.