Having a character channel the old detectives means he’s not a great person. Wolfe is a misogynist who is quick to rough up women, an Islamophobe, a homophobe, a murderer, and generally an all-around creep. He’s not a guy you want to go have a beer with. All this hate-driven anxiety does give him panic attacks, which is good for comedic relief. The upside is that we never really care whether he gets shot or not. The pace fumbles through the first half but really gets going into the second and third acts, and by the time it’s all wrapped up, it has found a good stride.
Performance-wise, Kate Orsini as Lynch owns King Saud. Her character is meant to be a sassy, empowered woman, but she still gets manhandled throughout the film and treated as an object. Despite that, Orsini manages to get across a sense that Lynch is absorbing what she must in order to meet her objective and goes beyond the thinly written dialogue to present a fully realized, commanding character.
“…puzzle pieces come together in a satisfactory way…”
The indie nature of the film is unmistakable. There isn’t much budget, and cinematography/editing is amateurish. The dialogue is clunky and over-expository at times. Those elements contribute, however, to building the tapestry of a hard-bitten cop tale, so are not necessarily negatives.
Some of the film’s setup is problematic. Having Islamic culture represent ultimate evil is a bit tiring at this point, and even though it’s been nearly 25 years, using footage of the World Trade Center attack and Saddam Hussein in a B movie is questionable overkill for a cheap gut punch. That said, King Saud works on many levels to tell an engaging story that will keep you guessing until the final scene. The puzzle pieces come together in a satisfactory way that is entertaining to watch.
"…film opens on a murder, and the gore splashes elaborately"
