Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Saint Jack (1979)

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Gazzara simply plays himself, in this adaptation of Paul Theroux's novel, as a genial American pimp in Singapore who tangles first with the local Triads, and then with the CIA. Bogdanovich turns the character into a sentimental paragon of virtue, and softens the hard profile of America's Far Eastern imperialism, ending up with a movie that reeks of the hollow travelogue sincerity it purports to despise. The director's smugness effortlessly trumps Robby Müller's camera-work and the good performances (notably from Denholm Elliott). Hard to imagine how anyone could make less of such a promising subject.

Author:

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Peter Bogdanovich

Producer: Roger Corman

Cast: Ben Gazzara, Denholm Elliott, James Villiers, Joss Ackland, Rodney Bewes, Mark Kingston, Lisa Lu, Monika Subramaniam, Judy Lim, George Lazenby, Peter Bogdanovich full cast

Duration: 115 mins


Features

Mister nice guy

Mister nice guy

Greg Kinnear brings his affability to a flawed hero.

Radical visions

British filmmaker Derek Jarman gets a much-deserved reconsideration at the Siskel Film Center.

Toronto International Film Festival

The Wrestler aside, the least-hyped films at Toronto were the most exciting.

Summer school

Six lessons we learned at the multiplex this summer.

Head trip

Fall preview: Charlie Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York is one of the most mind-bending films of the season.

Kiss and tell

A director and his star use their personal lives as inspiration. And it isn't self-indulgent. Promise.

Leo rising

Melissa Leo talks about good direction, being too method and how to get ahead in indies.