Saint John of Las Vegas hollywood Movie Movie 2009
The precious characters. Dramatic developments out of the clear blue sky. Comic sequences which all but cry out, “see how clever we are for making this all happen!”
The new film “Saint John of Las Vegas” doesn’t dispel the notion independent films offer quirk for quirk’s sake.
The comedy, which played the last day at the 32nd annual Starz Denver Film Festival, could serve as the poster child for why audiences distrust indie fare.
And what a shame, since star Steve Buscemi is a character actor richly deserving of a leading man role.
“Saint John” casts Buscemi as the titular John, a man obsessed with lottery tickets to the detriment of his bank account – and personal life.
He’s just getting by working at an insurance company when the big boss (the great Peter Dinklage) dangles a job promotion before his eyes. All John has to do is travel to Las Vegas to prove an insurance claim is fraudulent.
His partner for the mission, a fraud specialist named Virgil (Romany Malco), doesn’t speak much or let John in on his methods.
That matters when John meets the woman accused of insurance fraud as well as a half dozen other characters meant to complicate John’s mission.
It starts with great promise, as writer/director Hue Rhodes sets up an intriguing framing device which lets Buscemi stake out his character’s sense of desperation. No one sweats on screen better than the bug-eyed actor.
And who can’t appreciate the black humor, and touch of sadness, in seeing a woman in a wheelchair give a lapdance?
Giving Dinklage a potent comic cameo also deserves applause. The diminutive actor would be a star if not for his non-traditional height.
But midway through this quasi road picture runs out of gas. John and Virgil meet members of a naked, Luddite style militia for no reason other than Rhodes must have thought it would be a scream.
Not quite, although Tim Blake Nelson gamely drops trow for the part as the militia point of contact. Sarah Silverman provides a jolt as John’s girlfriend, but her reasons for falling for him only make sense in the mind of a confused screenwriter.
Other, equally forced sequences follow, and that doesn’t count the narrative sucker punch which sends the film reeling to the canvas.
Buscemi grinds out his performance, desperate to anchor John with something, anything that explains his flaws. But the script never provides the necessary structure to make John worth our pity.
“Saint John of Las Vegas” comes certified cute and clever, but the false packaging reveals a hollow comedy without a heart.
(Photo: Sarah Silverman and Steve Buscemi make an unlikely couple in the new indie comedy “Saint John of Las Vegas.”/Circle of Confusion Films)
Synopsis:
A compulsive gambler attempts to cure his addiction by moving from Las Vegas to Albuquerque and working at an auto insurance company, only to find old temptations cropping up once again when he’s sent out to investigate a dubious car accident just outside of Sin City. After a string of bad luck at the tables, John (Steve Buscemi) decides to…
I once worked at a magazine where we totaled up the minutes of time Steve Buscemi actually spent onscreen during the 1,792 films he had, at that point, appeared in. The answer was two and a half. I exaggerate (slightly). But there’s no doubt the Fargo star is rarely handed the kind of chunky roles routinely gifted to actors who are no more talented but possess, well, more conventionally attractive, leading man looks (and I speak as someone who is rarely confused with George Clooney or Jon Hamm myself). However, the new comedy Saint John of Las Vegas seems to be very much like an all-Buscemi-all-the-time enterprise, if its trailer is anything to go by. The movie also looks like it might be a cross between Repo Man and The Cooler. And that’s not bad thing at all.
Check out the trailer for yourself and tell us what you think.
After a run of bad luck, John, a compulsive gambler, runs away from Las Vegas and toward a normal job and life. Taking a nondescript position in an auto insurance company in Albuquerque, he tries to get ahead in the straight world, amid the ever-present temptations of scratch-off lotto tickets. When his boss, Mr. Townsend, asks John to accompany his top fraud debunker, Virgil on an investigation of a dubious car “accident” near Vegas, John sees an opportunity to get a promotion , though he’s concerned about returning to the gambling game. Before leaving he becomes involved with his eccentric co-worker Jill, a dalliance that has the potential to become a real relationship. Soon John is on the road with Virgil, where they encounter a series of offbeat characters, including a wheelchair-bound stripper, a nude militant, a park Ranger, and a carnival human torch. While Virgil is the supposed leader of the investigation, it’s John who begins to finally assert himself, pushing the case closer to a conclusion. Through the journey, John’s confidence builds, and he realizes that he can’t escape his gambling addiction by running away from it–it will follow him wherever he goes. It’s only when he returns to Vegas and his experiences there finally send him on the path to breaking free.
Saint John of Las Vegas Film Trailer
Release Date:29 1 2010
Genre: Drama
Director:François Ozon
Writer:Mathieu Hippeau (screenplay)François Ozon (screenplay)
Starring: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Angela Molina, Bernard Blancan, Sabrina Ouazani, Dominique Reymond
Produced by: Christian Berard, Jean-Philippe Andraca