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Santa Fe
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by Image Entertainment
Sales Rank: 109384
Price: $9.99
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A dangerous passiona deadly obsession. Eight months after escaping with his wife and daughter from a besieged cult in Wyoming, Paul Thomas (Gary Cole) is trying to rebuild his life in Santa Fe. Returning to his job as a police officer, Paul finds that his now ex-wife has succumbed to another cult and is dragging their daughter into its New Age doctrines. Fearing for their safety, he infiltrates the cult and falls for the beautiful leader, Eleanor (Lolita Davidovich). Will Paul become a member of the cult or find a way to save his family? Sometimes the truth will not set you free!
Viewer Reviews
When one lists some of the top actors in Hollywood today, the name of Gary Cole does not come to mind. Gary Cole is an actor that has proven himself time and time again. Cole is most famous for his dead-on portrayal of Mike Brady in the "The Brady Bunch" movies that appeared in the 1990s. Many feel that Cole nailed the Mike Brady role as good as the late Robert Reed. Even the lame sequel entitled "The Brady Bunch in the White House", had its one bright spot in Gary Cole. Cole has done other roles too. Recently he played Cotton McKnight, a broadcaster in "Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story" and once again nailed the part of playing a caricature of a straight-laced announcer. My exposure to Cole seemed to be in this caricature-type roles. When I discovered the independent film "Santa Fe", I discovered a whole new side to Gary Cole - a dramatic one (although he still shows his comedic side in parts of the film). However this time, Cole is given a very good script and as a result delivers a top-notch performance in what I feel is one of the better independent films of the last ten years.
In "Santa Fe", Cole plays Paul Thomas. Thomas plays a Santa Fe police officer who has an an obsessive interest in cults. At the start of the movie we learn that Thomas, his wife Lea (played by Sheila Kelley) and daughter Crystal (played by Tina Majorino) have escaped from a cult that became way too over the line (dangerous). Thomas had helped Lea and Crystal escape, but was wounded himself by gunfire as he tried to escape. A mass killing occurred at the cult and Thomas was the lone survivor. During his time in rehabilitation, his life changed. He was suspended from the police force, his wife Lea left him for a New Age Chiropractor named Dan Yates (played brilliantly by Jere Burns), and most importantly he realized he had an addiction to these cult-like organizations. Upon returning to Santa Fe, Thomas tries to get his life in order. This includes rebuilding his relationship with daughter Crystal and getting back on the police force. With some help from his City Councilwoman sister Nancy (played by Pamela Reed), Thomas is reinstated and although he is assigned to a menial desk job, he seeks to go after many of Santa Fe's "charlatan-like" characters who he feels are cult-like figures. This hits home immediately when Dan and Lea get Crystal involved with a New Age guru named Eleanor Braddock (played by Lolita Davidovich). Immediately Thomas suspects that Eleanor is a charlatan and seeks to get her out of his daughter's life. While trying to pry Eleanor out of Crystal's life, he begins to get close to Eleanor and falls for her. The movie begins to unfold as Thomas struggles walking a fine line trying to determine if he really is in love with Eleanor or in love with her ideas. In particular while Thomas begins to struggle with himself - we also see Eleanor doing the same.
The amazing thing is - on top of a very good story and a very good screenplay, we the city of Santa Fe play prominently into the movie. Not only does is the movie filmed on location, but there are many concepts that are prominent in Santa Fe that are also explored. These the concepts include: ethnic tensions (namely with the large Hispanic makeup of the city). gang violence, the idea of Santa Fe being a lightning rod to many of these New Age philosophies, and the concept of Santa Fe being a home to many Hollywood "outsiders". The nice thing is that the screenplay does a terrific job at integrating these concepts into the storyline. Most notably, there is an interesting storyline involving Thomas' sister Nancy trying to unseat the fictional Mayor of Santa Fe in a run-off election. This subplot will play a role in the overall story.
Ultimately, this is going to be Cole's movie from start to finish. The character of Paul Thomas really gives Cole a chance to shine. Cole provides some comedic moments throughout the film - whether it is running into a tree blindfolded or executing his witty sense of humor. At the same time, we see Cole's able to develop his character of Paul Thomas throughout the movie. He is also given a very good female presence in Lolita Davidovich who plays Eleanor There is definite on-screen chemistry between the two.
Another interesting wrinkle to the film is the inclusion of Phyllis Frelich playing Thomas' psychiatrist, Dr. Ginsburg. As a part of his condition to return to the police force, Thomas had to agree to counseling sessions. Dr. Ginsburg is deaf and needs to communicate with Thomas through the use of a translator who understands sign language. For those who aren't familiar with Frelich's work - she is deaf in real life. The use of a deaf character definitely adds a sense of realism to the movie, but also gives it another dimension. Cole isn't the only character who is going to provide comedic relief. It is Frelich's character of Dr. Ginsburg that will provide some humorous moments.
Perhaps the only bad part of the movie is a lame dream sequence involving Paul and Dan Yates in which Paul loses part of his tongue. I thought the scene was pretty bad and not necessary.
I thought the ending of the movie was very good. The ending wasn't predictable and I was very satisfied - even though part of me wanted this movie to go on even longer. The nice thing is the movie will keep you entertained from start to finish. Even though this was an Independent film, I'm very surprised this movie has not garnered more attention than it did. While Cole does a great job in the movie, this movie was terrific top to bottom - highly recommended.
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