Review of Saint Jack (1979) by Trevor H — 17 Nov 2010
Before watching Saint Jack I thought it was going to be a flat out comedy. But really, it's a drama with some comedy added in. The story follows a pimp who knows pretty much everybody in Singapore, whether through good relations or bad.
New characters that come into films are usually used to let the audience understand the situation, which is what he used the british man William Leigh for, but he also used him to separate the film in three acts.
An interesting concept even if I don't believe that every film definitely needs 3 acts. The film is about morals. Ben Gazzara will work as selling women, but he will not betray them, and more importantly he seems to worry about the wellness of everyone.
Jack is a loving man with different ideas on morality. One of the strangest scenes in the movie is when the army kid beats the prostitute. I expected Jack to go in and beat the crap out of him, but instead he just gives him a long look and leaves.
I don't know if this was because Bogdanovich likes to take away from the audience what they expect or if there is actually a point? And the James Bond music to the two transexual prostitutes dancing was hilarious.
Apparently that's why no one can use the James Bond theme in movies today. Really great film with a strong performance by Ben Gazzara.
This review of Saint Jack (1979) was written by Trevor H on 17 Nov 2010.
Saint Jack has generally received positive reviews.
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