Desert Saints

2002
6| 1h28m| R| en| More Info
Released: 10 March 2002 Released
Producted By: City Heat Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Banks is a hit man, the best, usually working for Latin American drug cartels. He picks up solitary women, uses them briefly for a job, then kills them. He's in the Southwest, headed toward Mexico, when he picks up Bennie, a woman leaving an abusive marriage, going to Paradise, Arizona. The film follows three tracks: Banks's slow recruitment of Bennie, the set-up for the hit at a swank resort in Mexico, and the FBI's close pursuit of Banks, whom they want alive in hopes he'll rat out his bosses. Bennie may not be who she seems, and there may be a chink in Banks's tough-guy armor. Guns, money, and a chance at Paradise.

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Director

Richard Greenberg

Production Companies

City Heat Productions

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Desert Saints Audience Reviews

Karry Best movie of this year hands down!
BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment
Steineded How sad is this?
Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
alice-246 Aside from the really annoying "flash forward" moments, this movie is pretty good -- better than I expected. I think the most amazing scene is when Banks reflects on what it's like to kill someone. It's like Banks is Jack Bauer's amoral twin -- Jack hates to kill but does it because it's necessary to save his country; Banks hates to kill but does it because it's necessary to pay for his expensive lifestyle.Melora Walters is miscast. I wonder if the role was originally offered to Meg Ryan, since she seems to be one of the producers.Also annoying -- Kiefer spouting Latin epigrams. Banks may have been an ivy-league educated genius, but in my experience (and, yes, I do have some experience of the type!) they don't study Latin anymore.And, the last, single gunshot at the end -- I have to wonder if there was another gunshot "after" -- or, maybe Banks lets one of the targets live? Which one?
BKinzeys Good acting and an interesting storyline but the script is below par. As they say if you don't have a good script you won't have a good movie.Interesting premise and there is a twist (2 twists actually) to the ending which brings this up to just beyond a "B" movie. Then it stops there.Meg Ryan is credited as a producer and she certainly picks better movies to act in than produce.Our lead character, Jack, is a hired... No - wait. Kiefer Sutherland is Arthur Banks, a world class hit-man who happens to wear Jack's Ray-Bans (see 24) and is traveling to his next job. He picks up a woman for a cover and accomplice along the way. The Feds are just two steps behind him.Whomever wrote this needed some help in fact checking and reality.At one point there is talk of a tungsten core bullet that spins faster which enhances accuracy. Um, no. It doesn't matter if a bullet is lead, copper, tin, steel or gold. That doesn't affect the spin rate.The movie starts out in the Southwest. Yet they drive for at least 3 or 4 days before entering Mexico. All on 2 lane roads. Sure, I can see not making a bee line but that's a little silly.A couple of bodies need to be dumped. Not much thought is given on where to dump them so as not to be discovered. The first one is why not in the bushes? The second body is a good place as long as nobody has a sense of smell.Don't you think if the Feds were given permission to enter Mexico the Mexican Authorities would at least tag along?Not worth renting and see what else is on TV before watching.
jotix100 Richard Greenberg, the director of "Desert Saints", has been involved with a lot of movies as an assistant director. It's clear he has learned his craft well. This film, which he co-wrote with Waley Nichols, came as a total surprise, not having seen it before.If you haven't seen the film, please stop reading here.Arthur Banks is a hired killer. Arthur is an educated man, who has gone to the other side of the law because he is an impeccable man as far as doing his job well for a lot of money. Don't double cross him though, because he will take care of anyone that dares to do so in a cool and detached manner, as we see him do as the film opens.When he meets Beenie, we wonder why is he taking a chance on the hitchhiking girl, or for that matter, what makes the girl go with this stranger, who might be a criminal on the loose. How naive can this woman be? Of course, this chance meeting is what is at the heart of the movie, as we shall see later on. In fact, Banks seems to have hand picked Beenie to mold her into his own plan.In the meantime, we watch as FBI agents are following Banks' trail all over Arizona. They know he is heading south to Mexico, but what is he going to do there? Arthur Banks is planning to take down a Mexican political figure, but things change for him unexpectedly as he prepares to do his thing.The last sequence is intriguing because it's something unexpected, as we watch how Beenie fools the people that want to talk to her. It appears that Beenie has a friend who has been working with her from within, but will Beenie be able to fool Arthur Banks? Well, your guess is as good as anyone's because the ambiguous ending the cunning director has given his story.The film works because of Kiefer Sutherland's take on Arthur Banks. This actor always can be counted to deliver in anything he does. Besides his good looks, Mr. Sutherland projects an intelligence as he plays the character he is portraying on the screen, as proved by his many other films.Melora Walters is also effective as Beenie, an enigmatic figure once we get to see her operate. Jamey Sheridan makes sense of his agent Scanlon, the man pursuing Banks through the desert. Leslie Stefanson's role shows a woman who might not be what she is supposed to be. Rachel Ticotin has a couple of good and hot scenes with Mr. Sutherland."Desert Saints" is a film that surprises because the direction by Richard Greenberg.
NIXFLIX-DOT-COM Yet another generic movie about a hitman on that final, last job before his retirement into lalaland (or wherever it is movie hitmen go when they retire). Keifer Sutherland plays the lead character, but the award for Most Annoying Lead in the world has to go to the young woman who plays opposite him. It's mind boggling that a hitman of Keifer's status (who purports to be a genius), would bring along someone so abrasive and counter productive to his intentions. You'd think a supposedly super smart hitman would know better, apparently not.The film is ultimately too silly for its own good. A twist at the end, which comes out so far from left field that saying it "doesn't make sense" is a disservice to all the movies that "doesn't make sense".DESERT SAINTS is just...dumb.3 out of 10(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of the film)