Saint Jack

Based on Paul Theroux’s novel, Saint Jack follows Ben Gazzara’s wheeling-and-dealing Jack Flowers as he attempts to earn enough money to leave Singapore and live a life of luxury in the United States. Filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, working from a script written with Theroux and Howard Sackler, delivers an episodic drama that ultimately benefits quite substantially from its use of real-life Singaporean locations and the superb work of its performers, with, in terms of the latter, Gazzara’s spellbinding (and remarkably relaxed) turn as the charismatic protagonist anchoring the proceedings and generally compensating for its less-than-enthralling stretches. (It’s clear, too, that Bogdanovich elicits impressively strong work from an eclectic supporting cast that includes Denholm Elliott, Joss Ackland, and George Lazenby.) It’s equally clear, however, that the less-than-dense nature of Saint Jack‘s storyline paves the way for a somewhat erratic and hit-and-miss midsection, with the uneven atmosphere, coupled with a distinctly overlong running time, ultimately paving the way for a second half that’s rarely as compelling or engaging as one might’ve hoped – which does, in the end, cement the picture’s place as a mostly watchable piece of work that features one of Gazzara’s very best performances.

*** out of ****