6.1
Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.
Val Kilmer
Simon Templar
Elisabeth Shue
Emma Russell
Rade Šerbedžija
Ivan Tretiak
Henry Goodman
Dr. Lev Botvin
Alun Armstrong
Inspector Teal
Michael Byrne
Vereshagin
Irina Apeksimova
Frankie
Lev Prygunov
General Sklarov
Charlotte Cornwell
Inspector Rabineau
Emily Mortimer
Woman on Plane
Lucija Šerbedžija
Russian Prostitute
Velibor Topic
Skinhead
Tommy Flanagan
Scarface
Egor Pazenko
Scratchface
Adam C. Smith
Young Simon Templar
Pat Laffan
Catholic Priest
Verity-Jane Dearsley
Agnes
Michael Marquez
Boy in Orphanage
Lorelei King
TV Reporter
Alla Kazanskaya
Old Russian Lady
Ronnie Letham
Old Russian Man
Tusse Silberg
Prostitute's Mother
Peter Guinness
Frankie's Curator
Stefan Gryff
President's Aide
Malcolm Tierney
Russian Doctor
Christopher Rozycki
Valeriy Nikolaev
Ilya Tretiak
Roger Moore
Car Radio Announcer (voice)
Evgeniy Lazarev
President Karpov
Michael Cochrane
Director
Phillip Noyce
Characters
Leslie Charteris
Screenplay
Wesley Strick
Screenplay, Story
Jonathan Hensleigh
July 2, 2014
This is not really a “The Saint” movie as far as I am concerned. It has very little resemblance to the Simon Templar that we got to know in the TV-series starring Roger Moore in the lead role. I have not read the books so I do not know how well the movie actually relates to the books but I have to say that I was a little disappointed to see a Simon Templar that was not really…him.
I have never really been a huge fan of Val Kilmer and I do not really think he is the best match for the role. But then, as I wrote, I really do not see this as a Simon Templar movie anyway so. Elisabeth Shue is totally unbelievable as a scientist. I know they had to pick someone reasonably good-looking to satisfy the script but still, she just doesn’t cut it as a scientist. The Russians are giving a much better performance. I quite liked both the Tretiak characters.
That is not to say that this is a bad movie though. You just have to forget about the references to The Saint and Simon Templar. The latter is not very difficult since he really do not call himself Simon Templar in most of the movie anyway. What this movie is though is a fairly decent light entertainment about a skilled high stakes thief with a troubled childhood. I say light entertainment because the plot is really not much more than you would expect from a TV-series pilot. There are some fun action, some fun infiltration, disguises, a bit of high-tech etc. Just a mixture of some “fun stuff” making you go “okay that was not too bad” at the end of the movie.
Oh, one more thing, I know that Simon Templar used to drive a Volvo P1800 but quite frankly, that was the only cool car that Volvo have ever made. Since the movie was so far from what I consider to be Simon Templar it is a real bummer that they had to choose that modern Volvo crap for him to drive.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$68,000,000.00
Revenue:
$118,100,000.00