Robert Chipman
Welcome to this column dedicated to my appreciation of physical media supplements called Feature Presentations. The goal of this column is not to say whether a film is good or bad and worth picking up or not — I would like to highlight the discs that go the extra mile and provide film fans with enough tasty tidbits to satisfy even the hungriest of cinephiles. Today’s article will focus on White Sands from the “After Dark: Neo-Noir Cinema Collection Three” collection via Imprint Films.
I never have or will claim to be an expert in reviewing the technical specs of a physical media release. There are plenty of knowledgeable people in this realm of commenting on the audio and video aspects of a disc with better setups than I’ll ever own. This column, Feature Presentations, is a way of highlighting the supplemental material within a given disc. With all that out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff and dive into my review of this Blu-ray release of White Sands.
As a disclaimer of transparency for this episode of Feature Presentations, my review of White Sands comes from a review copy that Imprint Films provided for review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
White Sands is one of the films from this collection that escaped me until now but seemed to have the most potential. Boasting a cast featuring Willem Dafoe, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson, and others, set against the backdrop of the New Mexico landscape, I was intrigued and hopeful. Unfortunately, when the end credits rolled, I was left with one of the biggest disappointments across all three “After Dark” collections.
Willem Dafoe plays Ray Dolezal, a small-town police officer who investigates the questionable suicide of a man with a briefcase full of money in a remote area of New Mexico. Because the plot needs him to, Dolezal becomes obsessed with finding out who the victim is and why he apparently killed him. This curiosity leads him down a rabbit hole of mysterious characters including the dubious Gorman Lennox and the sultry Lane Bodine, played by Mickey Rourke and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The plot gets mucked up further as FBI Agent Greg Meeker (Samuel L. Jackson) joins the fray, as everyone has shifty motives and even shiftier alliances.
Many neo-noir films roll with murky plots and seedy characters for their main characters to get involved with for one reason or another. The issue with White Sands comes right from the outset. Dolezal wraps himself up so tightly with the death that kicks off the movie, but we do not understand why. Unlike Homicide, where the detective in charge becomes entangled through narrative logic, there is no clear motive for understanding why Dolezal throws himself into this world. It’s cheap for him to enter a world where, for no other reason than “plot,” he finds himself, only to continue the story.
The film gets off on the wrong foot right from the get-go, and it’s hard to care about anything after. The plot and motivations are murky with revelations and surprises, but it means nothing and many of the motivations feel as if done for the script’s sake instead of the characters. And while the film is gorgeous to look at, making excellent use of its lush landscapes, it just makes me wish it was in a better movie.
Getting into the supplemental material, Imprint Films includes a newly recorded audio commentary with director Roger Donaldson and director of photography Peter Menzies, moderated by Gillian Horvat. Donaldson and Horvat feature most prominently throughout the track, with Menzies chiming in for back-and-forth comments with the film’s director. Donaldson discusses anecdotes from the set including his affinity for desert locations, working with the cast, and his thoughts on the finished film. Of interest are tales including co-star Mickey Rourke’s incident with a gun, the same star’s usage of Jimi Hendrix‘s “All Along the Watchtower” to prepare himself for the movie’s climactic sequence, and filming as a non-union production. The commentary is extremely low-key, but the three contributors play well enough off each other to make this worth a listen.
“Heart and Soul” is an interview with editor Nicholas Beauman discussing his work on White Sands. Beauman runs through his early career and love of editing before transitioning to his work on feature films before discussing White Sands. The editor speaks from a bygone era of 35mm film editing as he runs through the processes and techniques he applied to this 1992 film. The interview does get into many technical aspects but never feels overwhelming for those unfamiliar with an editor’s job duties. “Heart and Soul” is another low-key feature, but Beauman has plenty to say; much of it is fascinating.
The final interview on the disc, “High Noon Noir,” is conducted with screenwriter Daniel Pyne. What starts as a typical interview, with Pyne mentioning his fascination with the White Sands and what he looks for in films, turns into a fascinating look at the completed script versus the final product. Some of my concerns about the film’s plotting and characters; from this interview, look to have been omitted from Pyne finishing the final keystroke of the script to when White Sands moved to picture lock. Pyne states Willem Dafoe’s Ray goes on such a curious adventure was due to his boredom, and Mimi Rogers’ Molly, Ray’s wife, had a fully fleshed-out subplot that gave her character more to do. Would having these and whatever else removed make White Sands a masterpiece? Probably not, but it would have cleaned up character motivations and benefitted the plot. Whether you’re a fan of White Sands or not, “High Noon Noir” is an unexpectedly meaty interview.
The supplemental material comes to a close with the film’s theatrical trailer.
And there you have it! All the elements of a sunbaked noir are there, but a script with unclear motivations and messy plot sinks what could have been with White Sands. While I was underwhelmed with the finished film, Imprint Films collected a small but informative gathering of extras, including an eye-opening interview with screenwriter Daniel Pyne. White Sands is a mixed bag of the highest order, but the elements of a great neo-noir are there and, even if it misfired, fits nicely into the “After Dark” collection.
