Saint John of Las Vegas received its festival debut in…you guessed it. I’m not sure how it faired as the opening film for CineVegas, but I’m a fan of the casting line-up (Steve Buscemi, Sarah Silverman and Peter Dinklage which trickles down to a wheelchair-bound stripper (Emmanuelle Chriqui), a nude militant (Tim Blake Nelson), a park Ranger (Jesse Garcia), and a carnival human torch (John Cho). The film is pegged to receive a Fall release, several months after we forget about The Hangover.
Set in the not so original backdrop of Vegas, Hue Rhodes’ film sees Buscemi (who has a great supporting cameo-like role in Oren Moverman‘s The Messenger) as a compulsive gambler, runs away from Las Vegas and toward a normal job and life. Taking a nondescript position in an auto insurance company in Albuquerque, he tries to get ahead in the straight world, amid the ever-present temptations of scratch-off lotto tickets. When his boss, Mr. Townsend (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 he’s concerned about returning to the gambling game. Before leaving he becomes involved with his eccentric co-worker Jill (Silverman), a dalliance that has the potential to become a real relationship.
