Director William Kaufman originally burst onto the DTV market with his directorial debut The Prodigy (2005). While it had some issues, it worked as a calling card for Kaufman, showing what he was capable of creating on limited resources.
It would take Kaufman another five years before getting behind the camera, but it was clearly worth the wait. Sinners and Saints (2010), is a major improvement on his previous work and to date it is still one of Kaufman’s finest achievements. Not bad considering that it’s only his second film.
Taking place in New Orleans, Sinners and Saints finds Detective Sean Riley (Johnny Strong) appointed to investigate a series of brutal murders that has escalated into a full on gang war. Teaming with new partner Will Ganz (Kevin Phillips), the two slowly realise that there is much more going on than a simple gang war with higher powers at play.
Unlike The Prodigy, Sinners and Saints finds him working with a fair amount of established actors such as the great Tom Berenger, Costas Mandylor, Jurgen Prochnow, and Sean Patrick Flanery to name but a few. While their screen time is limited they do provide the film a touch of class and rise it above typical DTV fare.
Johnny Strong is excellent in the lead role. Audiences may recognise the actor from his previous work in the likes of Get Carter (2000), Fast and the Furious (2001) and Black Hawk Down (2001), but there was nothing in these performances that would show how good an action hero he could be.
Strong has number of strings to his bow. With a background in martial arts, as well as being an accomplished musician, it is a surprise that Strong hasn’t been in more films. It would seem that Strong is happy with his lot, as he has stated in interviews he likes the freedom of working on DTV productions as it gives him the freedom to focus on his other passions, mainly his music, with him releasing several albums.
Along with his albums, Strong also created the musical score for Sinners and Saints, with it being a fitting accompaniment to the on screen action.
Apparently it was through Strong’s music that Kaufman originally came into contact with him, as Kaufman made out he was looking to use Strong’s music for his film The Prodigy. This gave him the opportunity to present him with the script for Sinners and Saints.
As well as handling the action, Strong does well with the more dramatic elements of the role, with his character having to deal with the death of his son as well as the failure of his marriage. In addition he shares good chemistry with co-star Kevin Phillips, who plays his partner Will.
The two of them are involved in a number of exciting shootouts that take place on the streets of New Orleans. As good as the acting is it is the action in Sinner and Saints that sets it apart from other DTV offerings.
The shootouts are reminiscent of the works of Michael Mann, featuring gritty, violent and realistic gunplay. It helps that the majority of the action was performed by the actors instead of them being doubled by stuntmen.
Action choreographer Ron Balicki had worked with Kaufman previously on The Prodigy and returned to carry out the same duties here, as well as being one of the film’s producers. His work overshadows anything he had done previously for the director.
The action could put some bigger budget studio films to shame. Similarly to The Prodigy, Balicki also appears in front of the camera in a small role.
Balicki additionally has the assistance of his wife Diana Lee Inosanto who helps co-ordinate some of the films stunt sequences. Like Balicki, Inosanto is one of the film’s producers.
As well as directing, Kaufman also operated as one the films co-writers, working alongside his friend Jay Moses. Kaufman had previously written The Prodigy but his work here is clearly more professional than his previous effort, creating worthwhile characters and scenarios.
Co-writer Moses had previously appeared in an acting capacity on The Prodigy. To date Sinners and Saints is the only full length script that Moses has worked on. His only other writing credit has been on the short movie Mickey Finn (2012), which he starred in.
Upon completion it would take almost two years for Sinners and Saints to be released; even then it wasn’t given the attention it deserved. To add further insult it had the misfortune of being renamed to the more generic Bad Cop in certain counties.
A sequel was announced quite a while back, which would find Strong team up with martial arts superstar Scott Adkins. There’s been no recent news on the project, so let’s hope that it is still going forward.
With Sinners and Saints Kaufman proves to be a master at staging exciting action scenes, something he has shown time and time again with the likes of The Hit List (2011), Daylights End (2016) and most recently The Brave A.K.A. Lazarat (2019). Anyone looking for an action fix should definitely give his work a look, especially this underrated gem.
Rating: 4/5
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