TrueJoshNight
Truly Dreadful Film
ThiefHott
Too much of everything
ShangLuda
Admirable film.
Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW)
This is one of the most action packed movies ever. Great cast, great plot, great storyline to boot. "White Sands"is awesome. And it's a blast. Here you have a small town sheriff (Willem Dafoe) who uncovers a big mystery. An undercover FBI Agent, and suitcase with half a million dollars. That to him is a big break from the small town life. He goes out to the motel where the victim was staying at. Gets more information, decides to fill in the role of the dead-man, and find himself way over his head. He later meets fellow agent Meeker(Samuel L. Jackson), CIA Lennox(Mickey Rourke) , and Lane Bodine (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), a woman of means join in on the fun. The question is simple, Who to trust? Well, we know it's not Lennox. He's violently murderous. He had the two internal affairs men killed in the desert. And Meeker is no good. He is bound by greed. Big money equals big ego. If I was a Fed, I would stave off temptations. Only Lane was the one he could trust. During the shower scene, she was the one who could return Dolezal back to his regular life. But when convince him that she's very helpful, he had to live it up! And does he ever. Lane's persuasive actions makes Dolezal more intrigued than ever. For the record, Meeker's greed got the best of him. That made him the dirtiest FBI Agent ever. For the sheriff deputy, I think he had enough fun in his life. As long as he doesn't mention this whole scenario with his family. Awesome, totally awesome, what more can I say? 4 out of 5 stars!
seymourblack-1
"White Sands" is a stylish thriller with numerous twists and turns and a collection of characters who frequently aren't who they appear to be. It's also a great looking and atmospheric film with stunning scenery and marvellous cinematography by Peter Menzies Jnr. The story begins as an investigation into a mystery which could involve murder and then develops into the uncovering of a great deal of corruption and even a conspiracy which may be politically motivated.When a dead body's found in the desert and Deputy Sheriff Ray Dolezal (Willem Dafoe) goes out to investigate, he isn't sure whether the dead man, who had a gun in his hand and a suitcase with $500,000 in it, had committed suicide or been murdered. Dolezal discovers that the man's name was Bob Spenser and then decides to pose as Spenser in order to continue his investigations. Dolezal rings a telephone number found on a piece of paper in Spenser's stomach during the autopsy and this leads to him arranging a meeting at a motel where he gets attacked and robbed of the money in the suitcase. The two women who attacked him then give him instructions to get in touch with Gorman Lennox (Mickey Rourke).Before he contacts Lennox, Dolezal gets abducted by an FBI agent called Greg Meeker (Samuel L Jackson) who explains that Spenser was working for him and agrees that Dolezal should carry on posing as Spenser in order to try to recover the lost money.After meeting with Lennox and his associate, Lane Bodine (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), Dolezal finds himself embroiled in a deal to buy some illegal weapons from a couple of dealers who unexpectedly demand a further $250,000 to complete the sale. Meeker is unwilling to provide the extra money and so Dolezal gets romantically involved with the wealthy and well connected Bodine as a means of getting her to raise the extra money.Further complications arise when two FBI officers from Internal Affairs pursue Dolezal because they think that he killed Spenser and stole the money and also one of Spenser's girlfriends provides Dolezal with some potentially helpful information. Furthermore, when he realises that he's become involved in an even wider conspiracy involving the CIA, he then takes an unconventional course of action which leads to what he regards as a satisfactory conclusion.This movie features a cast of top quality actors whose excellent performances are vital to its success and the pace of the action is great, especially considering the plot's many complications and unexpected developments. Ultimately, it's an extremely enjoyable and absorbing tale of a man whose boredom with his mundane life leads him to take the opportunity for some excitement by taking on a case where he soon finds that he's completely out of his depth.
ccthemovieman-1
Here is another modern-day film-noir, featuring interesting characters played by a diverse cast. That cast is led by Willem Dafoe, who reminds me a lot of another noir actor, Dan Duryea.There is the usual corrupt government/military officials angle but the plot does have a few neat twists and is generally a non-nonsense kind of story. However, I did find the storyline a bit confusing, especially in the last half hour. On a second viewing, five years later, a few things cleared up but not a lot. I guess it will take looks to figure out everything, especially the very end.I'm not usually a fan of Elizabeth Mastrantonio, but I thought she was exceptional in here: by far, the best and most interesting character. The movie has a nice soundtrack. Overall, the good outweighs the bad and the somewhat confusing story helps draw me back for future viewings.Aside notes: this must have been one of Samuel L. Jackson's first films because he was listed as "Sam Jackson" in the closing credits. Unbilled were three always-interesting actors: Fred Thompson, Mimi Rogers and Jack P. Ryan.
ravenous_66
If anyone wants to see Mickey's last serious movie (in which he was the lead... no cameo crap), you need to see this movie. OK, I forgot Double Team... that was pretty serious...Dafoe and Rourke have some interesting exchanges, and Samuel Jackson is a riot... and its not every day you get to see a real US Senator blow up a tank with a bazookaBy the way, its not sand ... its gypsum, gypsum, gypsum...
