Eye Candy #296 - "The Saint"

The Saint:  This is one of those movies that I never saw when it first came out and have somehow managed to dodge with no great effort since then.  But I generally like Val Kilmer’s work and this was the movie that he walked away from the “Batman“ franchise to do, and it was cheap from the video store, so here we go.  Plus, I’ve liked some of the other movies by director Philip Noyce quite a bit (like “The Quiet American”).  Kilmer is Simon Templar, professional thief with a talent for disguises (though they never seem to actually fool anyone) looking for his last big score.  He is hired by a corrupt Russian politician/gangster to steal information concerning cold fusion power generation developed by an American scientist (Elizabeth Shue, who is absolutely DREADFUL).  However the scientist falls for him, the Russians double cross him, and what follows is a fairly anemic “thriller” that is devoid of real urgency and any other sensation of note (the love scenes are almost clinical).   This film, along with “The Island of Dr. Moreau” the year before helped  since Kilmer’s career for the better part of a decade (until 2004’s “Spartan”).   This one was let down by its script and the usually reliable Ms. Shue. Woodchuck sez, “Really quite terrible.”