CUNNING. DEVIOUS. DANGEROUS. TREACHEROUS. 

Professional thief Simon Templar (Val Kilmer) is hired by a Russian oligarch (Rade Serbedzija) to steal a cold fusion formula, but falls in love with the chemist (Elisabeth Shue) who discovered it. This big-screen adaptation of Leslie Charteris’s character strays from the 1962-1969 TV series starring Roger Moore, but could have used its suave touch. Kilmer looks like he’s having fun in various disguises, and there’s plenty of action. But nothing is engaging enough to make us forget how dull the story and the bad guys are. Yeltsin’s Russia looks awfully drab.

1997-U.S. 116 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Phillip Noyce. Cast: Val Kilmer (Simon Templar), Elisabeth Shue (Emma Russell), Rade Serbedzija (Ivan Tretiak), Valery Nikolaev, Henry Goodman, Alun Armstrong… Emily Mortimer. Voice of Roger Moore.

Trivia: Mel Gibson was allegedly considered for the lead.

IMDb