Review of Saint (1997) by Jason K — 04 Feb 2016

In The Saint, thief and con man Simon Templar, played by Val Kilmer, takes on the well-paying job of getting the formula for cold fusion from its inventor, Dr. Emma Russell, played by Elizabeth Shue. When Simon can't find Emma's formula anywhere, he resorts to seducing her in a manipulative way, changing into a South African poet artist and setting up a scene. It works.

Emma shares with Simon the cold fusion project she's working on and that she keeps the formula in her BRA. He got what he was going for, and yet, he feels bad, because he is starting to feel something for her. Later, she tells him that if he wanted the formula he only had to ask. She is not working on cold fusion to get rich, but to bring cheap and clean energy to the world.

I enjoyed seeing the different disguises and characters Val Kilmer takes on, my favorite being the geeky balding buck toothed slightly obnoxious scientist.

The way The Saint played out, with a lot of unrealistically close calls, escapes, and unusual ways of getting into and out of places well, that was part of the magic of the mysteriously chameleonlike Simon Templar.

As for the Russian politics in this: clearly fictional, perhaps very loosely based on realities of the 1990s, in a few ways, such as that many Russians were financially struggling and those on government salary were often not getting paid a living wage, as privatization was taking place, inflation was happening, and new entrepreneurs, including tycoons, were rising. Big changes happened in Russia in the 90s, after the fall of the Soviet Union.

In The Saint, did Tretiak trying to overthrow the government and the generals lining up for a coup remind me of anything? Hmmmm. Well, actually, yes! Vaguely reminiscent of actual standoffs. I'm not an expert on Russian history, but I'll try to sum up what I sort of know (after double checking to try to fill in the gaps of what I remember). There was the attempt by Soviet officials to overthrow Soviet Premier Gorbachev, which failed. President Yeltsin stood on a tank and defied the coup, and the army and people took Yeltin's side against those who would have taken over. Yeltsin dissolved the USSR and brought about democratic and market changes to the new nation of Russia. Gorbechev, who had brought perestroika and glasnost (openness and economic reform), stepped down as leader as the USSR was dissolved, and Yeltsin continued on through the 90s as President, until replaced by Putin.

The Saint also features a thwarted coup against a Russian President, but it's purely a fictional story. As for my favorite Russian character in this: black market entrepreneur Frankie, played by Irina Apeksimova.