Desert Saints
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.
Trailers & Videos
Desert Saints - Trailer
Theatrical Trailer Desert Saints
Cast
Kiefer Sutherland
Arthur Banks
Melora Walters
Bennie Harper
Jamey Sheridan
Agent George Scanlon
Leslie Stefanson
Agent Donna Marbury
Bill Sage
Agent Davis
Keith Diamond
Agent Robinson
Shawn Woods
Larson
Rachel Ticotin
Dora
Beth Grant
Lou
Alan Gelfant
Byron Sadowski
Brent Roam
Concierge
Buddy Quaid
Gas Station Attendant
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Reviews
Wuchak
**_As they say in Latin, "De gustibus non est disputandum"_**
An American hitman working for the Latin American cartels (Kiefer Sutherland) always uses and loses a solitary woman for his assignments. But this time, his last hit, he apprehends a woman who’s more interesting than usual (Melora Walters). Meanwhile, the FBI is hot on his trail.
"Desert Saints" (2002) is a crime thriller cut from the same cloth as "The Getaway" (1972) and Dennis Hopper’s "Backtrack," aka "Catchfire," mixed with 90’s Tarantino flicks and their knockoffs, such as “The Way of the Gun.” Like those movies, don’t expect likable protagonists. The only person who’s noble is FBI Agent Scanlon (Jamey Sheridan) and maybe his female partner (Leslie Stefanson).
Kiefer does a convincing job as the humorless assassin “tough guy," but the highlight, for me, is Melora Walters, perhaps best known as George Costanza’s date in “The Hamptons” episode of Seinfeld. She’s also infamous as the ‘kitchen table woman’ in “Cold Mountain.”
The 3-second scene before the end credits roll almost makes the film.
It runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot in SoCal at Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Barstow and Sierra Madre (the expensive hotel).
GRADE: B-/C+
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