Saint John of Las Vegas Review
By David Kempler
"Saint" Be Praised
Warning: An unabashed need to smile comes over me like a drug haze whenever I see Steve Buscemi onscreen. This colors all of my reviews of films that feature Buscemi, no matter how small his role. This in no way means that Buscemi can't do serious roles; he has done a great job dramatically, many times. But when there is something the least bit comical going on, he is probably the guy I most enjoy seeing.
"Saint John of Las Vegas" is written and directed by Hue Rhodes and it is crystal clear that Mr. Rhodes shares my opinion of Mr. Buscemi. He opens up with close-ups of Buscemi, sometimes talking, sometimes not, sometimes narrating, and from the opening bell, I'm smiling. That smile almost never left my face throughout the film's duration. Buscemi is the definition of quirky, from his appearance, to the way he talks and moves. Toss in Sarah Silverman and Peter Dinklage and there is a possibility of quirky overload. Thankfully, that is not a problem here, at least not for me.
Seared, if not fully destroyed, by his penchant for gambling, John (Buscemi) has beaten a hasty retreat from Las Vegas. He is in search of normalcy and ends up working in an auto-insurance office in Albuquerque. His next-door cube neighbor is Jill (Silverman, playing a character that could easily be a relative of her character on her television show). Her nails are painted with yellow-smilies and it's fair to say that she is not all there. I couldn't help thinking about Teri Garr in "After Hours".
Their boss is Mr. Townsend (Dinklage), a driven, borderline crazy who enjoys going after people who file phony accident reports. When John asks Mr. Townsend for a raise, Townsend counters by introducing him to Virgil (Romany Malco). Virgil is the real-deal when it comes to exposing scams and John joins Virgil on the road and he isn't in any way happy with this new situation. Malco more than holds his own here on the quirky meter. What follows is a continuing cast of quirky characters, one of whom is a carnival-type named Flameland (John Cho). His scene might be the funniest and most absurd of the bunch.
No doubt, I have over-hyped all of this and thoroughly over-used the word "quirky". I realize that some may be bored by "Saint John of Las Vegas" and some may find it to be downright stupid, but those of you who love watching Mr. Buscemi will find more than enough here to keep smiling. The rest of you should come over to our camp.
