THE "FALLEN" SAINT Well, until now, the last time a "saint" had to repent so much to his audience was Judas. The full capacity crowd at Arlington's courthouse theater was in for a disappointment in seeing this flick.

The Saint stars Val Kilmer in the title role and Academy award nominated actress, Elisabeth Shue as dippy, but young, blond, beautiful, literate, scientist, Dr. Emma Russell.

The Saint, also known as Simon Templar, is based on a series of forgettable British novels written by Leslie Charteris and set in the yesteryear of the 1920s through 1940s.

This movie has absolutely nothing to do with the books and resembles nothing close to the 1950s Saint TV series that starred a young Roger Moore (who makes a brief "audio" 
appearance in the movie). 

The Saint has been updated to current day events and zigzags back and forth between London and a post-Communist Russia. Kilmer's Saint maintains the chameleon abilities of Charteris' original character in order to impersonate and/or fool his victims.

Elisabeth Shue's Dr. Russell discovers a formula to create cold fusion (which would supply the world with limitless, pollution-free power) that an evil communist leader wants to secure his power base in Russia. The story line of this movie is incredibly lame and not very coherent. Shue's character makes an incredible scientific discovery that the Saint (a freelance thief) steals, along with her heart.

Val Kilmer is his usual wooden self and the Saint's character changes are laughable. However, the most amusing comment in the movie comes when the Saint asks her how long it will take for her to finish the formula and she answers "two hours". And I'm thinking, this chick couldn't figure out how to program her VCR clock in two hours, let alone figure out how to create cold fusion. To its credit, the picture is, to some extent, campy fun and there are a couple of funny lines.

In deference to the males in the audience, Shue is, in fact, perfectly cast. She really looks like a beautiful scientitst, just not a real one... (i.e. she walks around with her blouse unbuttoned wearing a bra one cup size too small). However, a trip to the video store, in a very short time I expect, is all this Saint is worth.