Desert Saints

2002
6| 1h28m| R| en
Details

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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Reviews

Mjeteconer Just perfect...
CommentsXp Best movie ever!
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.
A.N. I couldn't find too many flaws in this movie and it certainly wasn't dull. Sutherland did a good job playing a jaded semi-sociopath with a hint of decency. I wouldn't call it entirely realistic human behavior but it had no glaring faults.I watched this in large part because I've always found Melora Walters fun to look at, but there was an unusual scene where she emphasized that she had big hips, which she doesn't (they're noticeably trim). A double willing suspension of disbelief? Viewers will know what that scene was, and I wondered why they threw it it. Maybe it was originally meant for another actress.Anyhow, this is worth seeing and probably won't disappoint anyone who likes Sutherland's other survival/road movies.
pepekwa I'm not the greatest fan of the flashbacks in movies where you see future events while you're trying to digest whats going on in the present and this movie is full of this. First time writer-director richard greenberg tried too hard here throwing out too many plot lines, some fit, some don't. For such an accomplished assassin why would banks take a chance on bennie when there so many red flags like her "ex husband" just showing up like that, how on earth did no-one hear any gunshots on the balcony and right at the end, banks supposedly showing up was too much, these are just off the top of my head. This aside, it was an entertaining thriller and kiefer is in "24" mode here so fans of that will like him here.
pkjoker I thought this movie would be better than I thought and the description of the movie is also different from the film itself. The film started off great then it got bit sillier and sillier as it went on till the ending was the worst and could of been better.But i have to admit it had its spark's and moment's all of which Kiefer Sutherland made of course with the rest of the cast keeping up.One that would make a good sit in and watch something because your bored. If your a Kiefer Sutherland fan you will like this movie more and also is one that you shouldn't think much about. Good rental movie but wouldn't spend over a fiver for it
vchimpanzee At the movie's start, Mr. and Mrs. Pelham (not their real names) are checking into a fancy hotel for their honeymoon.Then we see the man in the green Nova burying a dead body in the desert, apparently in the American southwest. Well, actually, there's a little more to the scene, but I don't want to give away too much.The man in the Nova goes to the truck stop where Dora is a waitress to eat, and then he continues on his way after dessert. When he needs gas, he discovers Bennie, who explains that she is going west to start a new life, but her car has broken down and she has no more money to get it fixed. The man gives Bennie a ride, and later she explains that her husband Byron was abusive.FBI agents Scanlon and Marbury are in search of hit man Arthur Banks. They need evidence that he has actually done something in order to bring him in, and their intention is to get him to testify against those who hired him.Bennie and her mysterious friend spend the rest of the movie either on the way to do another job in Mexico, or on the run from the FBI. A number of plot twists are introduced to keep things interesting. Still, the movie is hard to follow because we keep seeing flashbacks or scenes that haven't happened yet. That scene with the honeymoon couple is shown two more times, each time with a little more detail. Some of the flashbacks are helpful because they help us understand what is going on in the present.Kiefer Sutherland does a capable job here, although I suspect he is better in "24" (which I have never seen other than a few clips). I just didn't quite see Emmy quality here.But it was Melora Walters who really made the movie work for me. Bennie was tough and intelligent but adorable and sometimes funny.There were several violent scenes, and while some of the results of violence looked quite graphic, the violence itself wasn't that bad. The language had apparently been cleaned up a lot for TV, and there was also some sexual content.Overall, it was an okay adventure.