Desert Saints (2002)
Pretty good but confusing
20 November 2006
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.
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