STN Entertainment

'The Saint'

Rated R

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like a second-rate James Bond. If you are going to spend
an evening with The Saint, wait and watch it the way
it was meant to be — on your TV.

41/2

— Liz Lent

PHOTO BY STEPHEN MORLEY

scenes in which Russian townsfolk scramble for fire-
erhaps at one time the notion of recycling 1960s TV wood, it was hard not to believe things would have been
shows into big-screen features was a good one. Af- much easier if only they'd had access to his wooden per-
ter all, screenwriters can start with ready-made formance. Rade Serbedzija, however, makes a surpris-
characters, and the audience already has a built- ingly good villain, and unlike everyone else in the movie,
in acceptance of the concept. One would think that with actually seems to be enjoying himself.
all that extra time, the writers might come up with
Most good action-adventure movies make their mark
an interesting plot, the director might create some cap- by doing one thing really well. Die Hard had big ex-
tivating visuals, and the actors might practice their act- plosions. Mission: Impossible had nifty gadgets and spe-
ing. Apparently, with The Saint, none of this happened. cial effects. The Hunt for Red October at least pretended
The story revolves around Val Kilmer as master thief
to have an intri-
Simon Templar, a brooding kind of hero with an
cate plot. The
unhappy past (yes, much like Batman) with a
Saint does
MOVIES
penchant for frequent costume changes and us-
not do any-
ing the names of Catholic saints as aliases. In
thing especially
the middle of a desperately cold Russian winter, he badly, but it doesn't
meets up with power-hungry Russian billionaire Ivan
anything very well
Tretiak (played by Yugoslavian actor Rade Serbedzi- do
either. No affecting
ja), who, naturally, wants to overthrow the government. characters, no clever
He hires Templar to steal the secret of cold fusion from
beautiful scientist Emma Russell (Elisabeth Shue) in twists to the story and
no high-tech excite-
order to provide a fuel source which will make him ment. Like an exer-
wealthier and warm the hearts (literally) of his people. cise in existentialism,
The hitch? Simon and Emma unexpectedly fall in
it just is.
love.
The '90s version of
Elisabeth Shue proves to have a nice, light comedic
plays out
touch, portraying Emma as a slightly befuddled yet no- The Saint
on
the
big
screen
nonsense sort of woman. As for Kilmer, during the as the '60s version just
did
on the small one —
Liz Lent is an avid moviegoer.

Elisabeth Shue and Val
Kilmer elude their
pursuers in The Saint.

'Chasing Amy'

Rated R

niter/director Kevin Smith seems to have grown
up some. The young filmmaker who made the
very funny and well-written Clerks (winner of
major awards at both the Cannes and Sundance
film festivals in 1994), based on his own experiences
working at a suburban New Jersey convenience store,
has a new film.
This time though, the conversations have turned
from the joys of pornography and the intricacies of Star
Wars to the unexplored world of relationships. Chas-
ing Amy still has much of the low-grade humor of
Smith's previous films — and most of it is still very fun-
ny — but adds a bigger dose of character depth to what
many are calling his first "real" movie.
Holden and Bankey (played by Ben Affleck and Ja-
son Lee, both of whom appeared in Smith's 1995 film
Mallrats, a creation for which Smith later apologized)
are best friends who, now in their mid-20s, find them-
selves fairly successful comic-book artists: One writes,
the other "traces."
The routine of bachelor living, however, becomes feelings and assumptions and ultimately falls for him
threatened when Holden falls for Alyssa Jones (Joey as well.
Lauren Adams), a fellow comic-book writer who ap-
Most of the writing until this point is quite good; and,
pears to be the answer to a question that Holden didn't as with Clerks, you get the feeling that you're watch-
ing something genuine. The lifestyles may not be
even know he was capable of asking.
familiar or even respectable to you, but the feel-
But a problem exists: Alyssa is gay. Unable
MOVIES
ings and pangs the characters are experienc-
to control his feelings for her, Holden falls in
love anyway. Initially angered by Holden's con-
ing probably are.
fession of love, Alyssa, too, begins to question her
As the two become a couple — much to the dismay
of their peers — Holden is struck with some unusual-
ly strong insecurities over Alyssa's sexual history (not
Jeffrey Hermann is associate editor at Visible Ink Press.

W

Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren
Adams in Chasing Amy, the
third film in Kevin Smith's
New Jersey Trilogy.

her lesbianism, of course,
but her varied hetero-
sexual experiences) that
quickly become such a
bone of contention that it
threatens to split them
apart.
While the writing is
still good and Smith's at-
tention to his characters
is still strong, from here
on in the film becomes
frustrating to watch.
How can a grown man
(he is approaching 30),
capable of seemingly sin-
cere love and commitment, let such a juvenile hang-up
go to such extremes?
As the relationship dwindles, you can't help but feel
disappointed, both in Holden and in the film. Some
might call what transpires honesty; but it seems more
like immaturity and, in the end, inconsistency.

112

— Jeffrey Hermann