Steve Buscemi & Romany Malco

The widely maligned indie "Saint John of Las Vegas" has a tough commercial road ahead in the best of circumstances, given its size (tiny) and comic tone (eccentric but mild).

What can I say? It's minor, but I enjoyed it, largely because of the people on-screen, but also for the sneaky sincerity of writer-director Hue Rhodes' chronicle of one compulsive gambler's slouch toward redemption.

It's based, sort of, on characters and themes from Dante's "Inferno."

Steve Buscemi, his eyes both hopeful and deluded, plays the gambler, who has left the circle of hell known as Vegas for a placid routine as a car insurance claims man in Albuquerque. His boss (an amusingly sinister Peter Dinklage) pairs him up with a fraud investigator (Romany Malco), and their assignment takes Buscemi's character back to the grungy outskirts of his old haunts.

Rhodes has an eye for visual comic oddities: At one point, visiting a low-rent carnival, insurance snoops John and Virgil interview a human torch with a malfunctioning flame problem. Sarah Silverman takes a supporting role as our antihero's love interest back at the office, and the actress with the fearsomely intense grin is allowed a little breathing room, as well as some warmth. Her character's life is a symphony of smiley-face pillows and stickers and yellow balloons.

"Saint John of Las Vegas" winds its way toward a conclusion, though the movie is all detours and episodic vignettes. I like its devotion to the drab outskirts of Sin City, and Buscemi's performance is right up his alley without being entirely predictable. Rhodes would do well to push his luck and his storytelling instincts further next time. These days, "eccentric, mild but intriguing" gets you only so far, even with a specialized audience.

 

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"Saint John of Las Vegas" Movie Trailer

When his boss, Mr. Townsend (Peter Dinklage), asks John to accompany his top fraud debunker, Virgil (Romany Malco) on an investigation of a dubious car accident near Vegas, John sees an opportunity to get a promotion , though hes concerned about returning to the gambling game. Before leaving he becomes involved with his eccentric co-worker Jill (Sarah Silverman), a dalliance that has the potential to become a real relationship.

Soon John is on the road with Virgil, where they encounter a series of offbeat characters, including a wheelchair-bound stripper (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a nude militant (Tim Blake Nelson), a park Ranger (Jesse Garcia), and a carnival human torch (John Cho). While Virgil is the supposed leader of the investigation, its John who begins to finally assert himself, pushing the case closer to a conclusion.

Through the journey, Johns confidence builds, and he realizes that he cant escape his gambling addiction by running away from it—it will follow him wherever he goes. Its only when he returns to Vegas and his experiences there finally send him on the path to breaking free. First time writer/director Hue Rhodes SAINT JOHN OF LAS VEGAS follows the wild and funny trip a guy has to take to discover theres more than one way to hit the jackpot in life.

 

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MPAA rating: R (for language and some nudity).

Running time: 1:25.

Cast: Steve Buscemi (John); Romany Malco (Virgil); Sarah Silverman (Jill); Peter Dinklage (Mr. Townsend); Emmanuelle Chriqui (Tasty D Lite); Tim Blake Nelson (Militant Ned).

Credits: Written and directed by Hue Rhodes; produced by Mark Burton, Matt Wall, Lawrence Mattis and Kelly McCormick. An IndieVest Pictures release.