Drew's

Date Reviewed	3/12/2010
Title	Saint John of Las Vegas
Rating
Directed By :	Hue Rhodes
Starring :	Steve Buscemi, Romany Malco, Peter Dinklage, Sarah Silverman, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Aviva, Tim Blake Nelson and John Cho
Review	The city of sin is an infamous location where adults go to play, dream and break down. Steve Buscemi stars as John. He’s a guy that believes in luck, good and bad. For now, he’s a claims adjuster in a cubical at a routine office. His life has an appearance of being on the right track since he lives in a modest house and has a fairly secure white collar position. Peter Dinklage is the boss, Mr. Townsend at Townsend Insurance LLC. He wants John to join the fraud department and hit the road for a special assignment with Virgil, played by Romany Malco. The destination is gambler’s kryptonite, Las Vegas. John has to resist temptation in a place where he’s been previously weakened. The investigation includes a stripper in a wheelchair rear ended on a low traffic passageway. Sarah Silverman has an odd supporting role as cubical co-worker Jill. Her favorite color is yellow since the sunlight background on just about everything she owns sharing the canvas with shiny happy faces. She has a thing brewing with John along with Townsend. Tim Blake Nelson joins the wackiness as Ned, a gun toting naked activist. His participation as a conflict oriented liberal must have been a better idea on paper. Ned’s motto could be fight, join and leave when we’re ready. The supporting characters damage the film severely. Virgil has no personality and brings absolutely nothing to the entertainment table. Jill is ridiculously one-dimensional. Mr. Townsend as the big shot midget doesn’t do anything either regarding laughs, fear or intimidation. The scriptwriters began with an interesting foundation when an addict unintentionally visits the place that cripples him. From there it went off the deep end with a silly over the top side cast and a finale that wraps up too cleanly leaving many unanswered necessary questions. Steve Buscemi as the lead character John is the one performer that maintains attention. When he verbally rants, it’s quite amusing and reminiscent of his Mr. Pink character from “Reservoir Dogs”, without as much anger. He’s more of a scratch card junkie than a casino game high roller. Luck is nothing more than a feeling over a belief system since the entire concept lacks personal control. “Saint John of Las Vegas” fits like a broken Rubik’s Cube. This had “walk out” written all over it, if it weren’t for Buscemi. This picture should have been written on an Etch-A-Sketch, and then shaken completely clear. Drew's Reviews, copyright 2010, Drewsmoviereviews.com, property of Drew Bean.