THE SAINT

"THE SAINT"
(1997) (Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue) (PG-13)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Heavy	None	Mild	None	Moderate

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Mild	Mild	None	Minor	Heavy

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Adventure: A world class thief, who is a master of disguises, steals secret and innovative plans concerning a new form of energy for a power hungry Russian businessman.

PLOT:: Simon Templar (VAL KILMER) is a world-class thief and a master of disguises. After pulling off a microchip heist, Templar, who goes under the aliases of Catholic saints, is hired by Ivan Tretiak (RADE SERBEDZIJA) to steal cold fusion plans from U.S. scientist Emma Russell (ELISABETH SHUE). Tretiak is a Russian businessman who knows that if he can provide cheap heat in the brutally cold Russian winter, he'll not only become politically popular, but he'll make billions of dollars. When they discover that the plans for the energy source aren't complete, Ivan sends his son, Ilya (VALERI NIKOLAYEV) and his henchmen to find Simon and Emma and make her complete her work. From that point on, Simon and Emma must elude Ilya and his goons, while they become attracted to each other.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of Kilmer or Shue, or if they think this will be similar to a James Bond film, they just might.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13: For action violence, brief strong language, some sensuality and drug content.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: VAL KILMER plays a professional thief who quickly, and falsely, romances Emma so as to steal her science work.
ELISABETH SHUE plays a scientist whose only bad trait is falling for and then staying with Simon.; ELISABETH SHUE plays a scientist whose only bad trait is falling for and then staying with Simon.

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

OUR TAKE: 4 out of 10: This is a movie that desperately wants to be another James Bond film, but falls way short. While the film has similar overseas locales in Russia and London, beautiful women, and gadgets used for spying, this one lacks any pizzaz or real sense of fun. The stunts aren't that spectacular, the "bad guys" are lame Bond carbon copies, and the plot is rather lackluster in moving the story along. All of this is surprising since this character has been around since the late 1920's in novel form and then appeared on both the big and small screens (the later with Roger Moore in the 60's) and thus preceded the Bond films that it so desperately tries to emulate. Kilmer is decent in this role as it plays off his reputation for being aloof and he does have some fun in many of his disguises. Elisabeth Shue, however, is surprisingly bad in her role as the brainy scientist as she overacts the part, and never for an instance makes you believe she could have discovered the secrets to cold fusion. This is a shame because in the past she's been very good (receiving an Oscar nomination for "Leaving Las Vegas"), but this is a performance she should forget about. Many parts of the film are downright sloppy and ludicrous, especially the fact that both Simon and Emma read aloud to themselves (when they're alone), and Simon occasionally verbalizes his thoughts just so we know what's happening. That's an easy way to move the story along, but it's something most film makers abandon after their first year of film school. Almost as bad is a voice over narrative, but at least that dramatically and logically makes sense. Characters talking or reading aloud to themselves does not and director Phillip Noyce ("Dead Calm" and "Clear and Present Danger") should know better as he's made far superior films. Another illogical point is that Emma is the only person who realizes that since Simon always uses aliases that are the names of saints, he should be easy to find on airline manifests. Why the police have never figured this out, especially after Simon tells everyone he meets that he was named after a particular saint is a big, unanswered question. The film is also very opportunistic in that it always allows the bad guys to easily find Simon and Emma, even to the outrageous scene where Ilya parks his car right over top of the manhole that the two are about to emerge from. Some tongue-in-cheek films can get away with that, but this film doesn't. If you're going to do a Bond-like film or one that will obviously be compared to that series, you had better outdo Bond. Here they don't, and thus we give this film a 4 out of 10.

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:: While this film isn't overflowing with "bad" material, it does have certain elements that some may find objectionable. There is brief drug use (cocaine) by one character, and 1 "f" word is uttered for no apparent reason (there isn't much else profanity). A few mildly sensual scenes pop up here and there, but none of them are too graphic. There is some violence with a few people being killed, but most of it is used to create suspense where our two characters are put into harm's way. We gave the "Imitative Behavior" category a "heavy" rating due to a modified Russian roulette scene where a gun is placed to Simon's head with just one bullet in it and a one-in-six chance of him being shot when the trigger is pulled. On another note, parents of girls should point out that although Shue plays a "nerdy" scientist, she should still be smart enough not to stick by Kilmer's character who has stolen from her and caused her life to be in danger. Here she plays the doe-eyed woman who follows her big Hollywood man everywhere and it's not a great presentation (it's not as bad as that, but it's close). If you or your kids want to see this film, you should first read the content listings to determine how appropriate it is for you and/or them.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: Ilya prepares to snort cocaine, but is interrupted.
Simon acts like a drunk to elude the "bad guys" and takes a swig of vodka from his bottle. Later he drinks another swig.
Simon and Emma drink wine with dinner.
Simon drinks what appears to be brandy after stealing Emma's notes.
People drink in a bar, as does Simon.
Ilya drinks a shot of liquor and then snorts cocaine in one scene.
Ivan drinks vodka in one scene.

BLOOD/GORE: A young girl who has fallen to her death has a little bit of blood around her on the floor.
Simon breaks his vodka bottle on a wall, and then takes a knife and cuts his forehead to make it look like he was attacked. A good amount of blood then flows down his face.
Ilya's face is bloody and scarred after he was caught in an explosion.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: A young Simon pickpockets a priest and circumvents his punishment by unlocking his and the other boys' dinner.
Obviously the bad guys have both.
Simon snoops through Emma's place, looking for her chemistry secrets.
Simon courts Emma so that he can steal her notes, which he does early in the morning.
Ilya spits in the face of a U.S. embassy soldier.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Some viewers may find scenes listed under "Violence" as also being tense and/or suspenseful.
Young Simon's "girlfriend" falls to her death after she slips over a railing and hits the floor several stories below.
To elude Ilya and his goons, Simon must hold his breath underwater in a near freezing river.
Simon and Emma are chased through a house and then up onto a roof where they then slide down an interior shaft to safety, but not before Ilya and his men fire guns down at them.
Simon and Emma find themselves wading through a water tunnel that is currently empty, but in several minutes will fill up again. As they try to open an escape hatch, the water quickly begins filling the tunnel.
Ilya hits Simon several times and then holds a gun to Simon's head, playing Russian roulette with him (one bullet and spinning the round and then pulling the trigger).

GUNS/WEAPONS: Guns/Machine Guns/Knife: Used to threaten, injure, or kill people. See "Violence" for details.
Ilya hits Simon several times and then holds a gun to Simon's head, playing Russian roulette with him (one bullet and spinning the round and then pulling the trigger).

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "Bastards," "Moron," "Screw him," "Idiot," and "Whore" (in subtitles).
Young Simon edges along the outside of a railing several stories above the floor below.
Simon jumps from a roof top after Ilya has cornered him (he safely lands on a great deal of padding).
Simon breaks his vodka bottle on a wall, and then takes a knife and cuts his forehead to make it look like he was attacked. A good amount of blood then flows down his face.
Ilya spits in the face of a U.S. embassy soldier.
Ilya hits Simon several times and then holds a gun to Simon's head, playing Russian roulette with him (one bullet and spinning the round and then pulling the trigger).

JUMP SCENES: None.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): There is a mild amount of action-oriented suspense music throughout the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: 1 "f" word, 2 damns, 1 S.O.B., and 3 uses of "Oh my God," and 1 use of "Christ" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: After Simon watches Emma put her chemistry secrets into her bra he tells her, "I just wanted to watch you put that away. What else do you keep in there?" She replies, "Nothing," to which he says, "That's not true."
Emma tells Simon, "Take off your pants -- I mean your sweater..." after she notes that his sweater is spotted with his blood. He then tells her that she has blood on her, so she unbuttons her dress and he briefly feels her breast (and she's seen in her bra and underwear. They passionately kiss and she takes off her bra, but due to the way the scene is shot, no nudity is seen. They then get into bed, but they don't do anything other than cuddle.
Sensing that Simon's suffering from hypothermia, Emma removes his clothes (conveniently sitting atop his groin area), and then unbuttons her clothing and lies on top of him to warm his body.
Simon and Emma passionately kiss and begin to remove their clothes (but no nudity is seen). She says, "I want you." He asks, "For how long," and she replies, "It doesn't matter." They then kiss some more and fall onto the bed but nothing more is seen.

SMOKING: Ivan smokes in a few scenes and other secondary or background characters also smoke.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: Why Emma sticks with Simon even after he's stolen her material and repeatedly put her in harm's way.

VIOLENCE: The sounds and silhouetted image of a priest disciplining a young Simon (whacking on the butt) are heard and seen.
Ilya holds his gun on Simon, and the two then fight with many punches and kicks thrown at each other. Ilya then fires several shots at Simon.
Ilya and his goons show up and shoot a woman dead. They then burst into Simon's hotel room and blow it to bits with their machine guns, but Simon has already left.
In a parking garage Ilya fires his machine gun at a police officer after he tries to get Simon.
Emma smacks Simon after he says that she found him only because she's in love with him.
Ivan whacks one of his goons with his Ilya's cane after the man let Simon and Emma escape.
One of Ilya's goons grabs Emma and holds a knife to her throat. Simon then rescues her by hitting and kneeing the bad guy.
Ilya shoots a man dead when he doesn't properly answer whether he's seen Simon and Emma.
Simon and Emma are chased through a house and then up onto a roof where they then slide down an interior shaft to safety, but not before Ilya and his men fire guns down at them.
Ilya hits Simon several times and then holds a gun to Simon's head, playing Russian roulette with him (one bullet and spinning the round and then pulling the trigger).
Simon lights a stream of fuel and Ilya's truck explodes.
Televised footage of riots and protests show police and soldiers briefly hitting the protestors.
Confronted by an armed guard, Simon shoots a chandelier above him causing it to fall on the soldier. Other soldiers then appear and fire their machine guns at Simon.

Reviewed March 31, 1997

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