In my opinion this is the best film by Peter Bogdanovich, to this day. It packs so much witty humor, charm and deep characterizations, and yet it looks so simple, which is the essential ingredient of any great film.
Ben Gazzara mastered the roles of strayed pimps, with a heart, most notably in Cassavetes's "The killing of a Chinese bookie", and he's on his own terrain in "Saint Jack", playing the role with ease. Supporting cast helps a lot, and most of them are probably not professional actors, which gave the more credit to Bogdanovich's directing, who, by the way, plays a great role of entrepreneurial CIA operative. It's a shame that this movie is released on DVD only in Australia, but if you look hard you can track it down, and every film lover definitely should.
Ben Gazzara mastered the roles of strayed pimps, with a heart, most notably in Cassavetes's "The killing of a Chinese bookie", and he's on his own terrain in "Saint Jack", playing the role with ease. Supporting cast helps a lot, and most of them are probably not professional actors, which gave the more credit to Bogdanovich's directing, who, by the way, plays a great role of entrepreneurial CIA operative. It's a shame that this movie is released on DVD only in Australia, but if you look hard you can track it down, and every film lover definitely should.