User reviews

A film about homelessness seemed like a depressing movie to watch, but the New York Times blurb on the video case along with Danny Glover's presence tipped the balance. It wasn't depressing. I was glad to see it. My wife rated it 10 out of 10. I'd give it 8 out of 10. Many scenes are heart-touching, without being over-sentimental. The acting and script are super, making it very believable. This isn't the usual 'shoot-em-up / car chase' movie. It is a story about life, about the reality for so many. You do not have to be homeless, or even close to it, in order to relate to this movie. All of us have had similar experiences of despair and bad luck. And just who is the saint ? Watch and find out...

" The Saint of Fort Washington " is a shocking, life film, which leaves nobody indifferent. Tells the story of the homeless, the helpless and the sick people, who wear their tragedy with optimism and faith in better life. Both of main actors, Danny Glover and Matt Dillon,are masterfully played their roles. All recommendations to watched this exceptional drama.

I encountered this movie on a dreary, rainy day and after watching it for about 10 minutes, it thoroughly sucked me in. It is fascinating portrayal of the plight of the homeless. a problem that effects nearly a million people in this country. If you really are concerned about humanity, I strongly suggest it. It seems that there is a "void" in Hollywood to tackle social problems, but this attempt hits the nail on the head. It gave me the thought that we take so much for granted in our lives, while we ignore many issues which profoundly effect others. It doesn't pull any punches, and there are few, if any, cliché's.... Danny Glover, Matt Dillon and a strong supporting cast are superb, and the location shooting is impressive. Don't pass this one up.

I saw this film about 5 years ago on TV and then spent the next 5 years trying to find out what it was called. This film is a true masterpiece it really is. The acting from the two stars is fantastic(Matt Dillon is always fantastic probably one of the most underrated actors along with Kevin Bacon). The direction is fantastic and the all round feel of the film is great, it draws you in and you really feel for the charactersand you really will them on, then it hits you hard at the end not giving you a hollywood happy ending. Hollywood always seems to tiptoe around films like this and unfortunately a mass audience never gets to see them, mainly because some d**k h**d reviewer calls them a sentimental tear jerker. The film is a real gem and if you're reading this you probably agree.Get the word out to the people no-one should miss this classic.

The Saint Of Fort Washington isn't a bad movie. Do I need to watch it a second time in the future? No, not really, but it' certainly worth a watch. The best thing about this movie is the acting, certainly from Danny Glover who did a great job. Matt Dillon wasn't bad either but to me it's Danny Glover that carries this movie. The plot is realistic, exactly how I can imagine homeless people try to get by in a big city. There are a couple of dramatic events that weren't really necessary in the story though. the movie could have done without those scenes, the message would have been the same.

just watched this again, and again found it moving, real, touching, sad, funny, and so many more of the emotions that make up real life; in this case, the lives of 2 homeless men. Danny Glover is perfect, as usual, and Matt Diillon *is* his character;now realize what an excellent actor he is.Couldn't stop watching, even though I knew it had no fairy tale ending. After you see this- and don't miss it- you will never again see a homeless person without seeing him/her as a *person* , not just a faceless ""problem".

There's really no middle-ground when it comes to movies about the homeless: you either always watch them or you never do. If you always watch them, you've probably seen The Soloist, Cardboard Boxer, Shelter, Being Flynn, Same Kind of Different as Me, Stone Pillow, Time Out of Mind, No Place Like Home, The Lady in the Van, and of course, The Saint of Fort Washington. This one is pretty well known, especially if you grew up in the 1990s and watched a bunch of Danny Glover or Matt Dillon movies.

Being a fan of both actors, I rented this movie during Danny Glover's week on Hot Toasty Rag, only to remember halfway through that I'd already seen it! I guess I've seen too many of these movies, and they all started to blend together in my memory. If you're new to the genre, this is a good one to start with because it feels like Sociology 101. Danny Glover plays a Vietnam veteran, and Matt Dillon plays a man with schizophrenia. In case you didn't know, there are lots of veterans on the street as well as (ever since President Regan closed the mental hospitals) lots of people who are mentally ill. The 101 students might wonder, "Why don't those people go to a homeless shelter?" The purpose of this movie is to answer that question. The shelter Fort Washington is a very large facility with metal detectors, guards, and hundreds of cots. While technically, these men (homeless shelters must be segregated) have a roof over their heads for the night, it's far from the safety us homeowners imagine it to be. Danny shows his new friend Matt how to survive in Fort Washington: anchor your shoes under the bed frame posts and store anything you want to keep in your underwear. There are dangerous, violent people who are let in shelters, and they rob, emotionally harass, beat up, and sometimes murder other men. This movie shows a representative of that type, played by Ving Rhames.

During the daytime, Danny tries to make a living by washing car windows during traffic jams (another representative). He teaches Matt the ropes on that trade, like making jokes and complimenting the drivers for a bigger tip. Obviously, you're going to see some great acting in this movie. Matt really convinces you that his focus isn't "all there", and Danny is completely believable as a homeless man. You can tell he's lived through horrors, but he's completely accepted that his life will never get any better.

However, if you're really not in the mood to learn about such a terrible way of life, I wouldn't recommend it. There are lots of people who enjoy watching these movies, so they can talk about how awful the homeless problem is and how "someone" should do something about it; then, they step around the carboard boxes in the street. If you really, really think about how terrible it is that men who have risked their lives for our country are living under freeways, or that people who should be in mental hospitals are left to fend for themselves on the street, it's unbearable. It's too painful to really, really think, though. But if you can, try to be a little nicer to the guy who washes your window in a traffic jam.

I first saw this movie on late night cable several years ago and found myself riveted to the point where I decided to tape it and now, 10 years later still find myself unable to record over it. It's just that good!! Matt Dillon and Danny Glover deliver performances subtle but powerful enough to make you forget they are actors. The New York locales add to the feeling of authenticity and makes you wonder if mayors past and present (including "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani) are barking up the wrong tree in attacking squeegie men trying to make a buck rather than concentrating on more important things.

Anyhow, back to the film: Ving Rhames appears as a thug our duo just can't seem to escape for as hard as they try to achieve their dreams, they are constantly forced to spend the night in a shelter with him. In seeing this film you also will be unable to shake feelings of frustration we all meet at one time or another at the hands of bureaucracy. Matt Dillon's character can't receive a check because he has no ID, Danny Glover can't mourn at a paupers cemetery because it's against regulations, etc.

This film is about trying to maintain hope, beauty, humor, dignity and caring when homeless and if this just sounds like your typical tear-jerker, just remember, as Glover's character points out when condescended by a yuppie: "three missed checks and that guy's living on the streets just like us." It's a powerful message when you begin to see just how hard it is to climb out of the pit once in it. Rent this film, you'll be be glad you did. This is a gem despite Leonard Maltin's half-assed review. This film deserves to be recognized more than it has been for Dillon proves he can act any of our "stars" under the table with just a filmless camera. You may need a hanky though. I can sit through the bloodiest of movies while eating yet this film moved me. I give this movie a 9.5 out of 10. SEE THIS MOVIE!!!

Amazed this was released in 1993. It felt every bit like a gritty film from the 70s.

Definitely one of Danny Glover's best performances. Matt Dillon is strong too and they share a really great chemistry. The bond and friendship that develops between the two men is the high point.

I felt it captured homelessness accurately. It made me feel like I was on the streets with them. Authentic would be a great way to describe it.

The soundtrack was often abrupt and out of place and dates the film terribly. The film quality of what I watched was poor at times too, though this didn't really detract from my enjoyment of it.

While I knew this film wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows, I also didn't expect it to be woefully depressing and basically void of all hope by the end. Left me feeling a bit flat and the latter half definitely gets a bit caught up in its own misery.

Despite the ending and other things, it's still a strong film with worthy performances - just not one I'll revisit.

You and I can usually put the homeless out of our minds. It is said that if you truly felt the misery of the homeless, you would go mad. I could not watch this movie all the way through at one sitting, but had to take it in increments. You know tragedy will occur, as though the wasted lives of the hundreds of vagabonds, mentally ill and veterans on the street isn't itself a crime.

As someone who sometimes serves the homeless at the Arlington Street Church in Boston, I know these people. They act like the software engineers I work with 'so long as they are on their 'meds''. That we are so savage a society that we no longer take upon ourselves the obligation to do good to the helpless, to house them as we did in a more civilized time, that's just one of the many signs of our downfall as a society.

No preaching in this movie, however. Danny Glover's and Matt Dillon's eyes tell it all. I think one reason we have so many humanitarian actors is because they have to play the roles of the downtrodden and in doing so, become empathetic with them. Since many writers, musicians, actors were blacklisted or attacked for their heroic stands, they know the hurt of the mob or bullying police themselves.

Dillon and Glover went out on the streets and lived among these denizens of the sewers, these reminders that we have regressed to Dickens' time. The complicity of the Shelter police in the beating and murder is something that will make you retch, as the sharks of the night rob the other homeless of their pennies, armed with knives that somehow get through the metal detectors. You have no reason NOT to believe the various anecdotes that emerge, from the retarded couple and their pregnancy to the old man with the arthritic fingers, sharing his soup to the Vietnam vet with shrapnel still in his knees, screaming in pain when his drugs give out. The sharing of the homeless with the others in the same state is something that few of us in the 'burbs will ever do,

You keep thinking something beatific will happen as the boy has visions of a happy life in glorious Technicolor, but the drab colors of the mean streets of New York remind you that it's all in his head. YOu will never pass up another street hustler with his roses on Mass Ave., trying for a few bucks to ease whatever horrors brought him to this place in life. YOu will want to open wide your home to every vagrant in the Pine Street Inn.. Yet fear will stop you: fear that some will be as the murderous hustlers of the night in those shelters. You understand why some of those you serve dinner to won't be caught dead in a shelter, for fear they WILL be.

The city of New York aided in filming this important movie, which should be shown to every HIstory class, every Sociology class and to every recruit thinking he will return to Glory when his time in Iraq is over. They're already joining the Vietnam vets in homelessness, as this movie shows.

The most horrible scene is the movie however, shown so poignantly and understatedly by Dillon, is when he tries to return home after his slum apartment is razed. His mother has moved to Florida, and left the key with a neighbor who refuses to let him in his 'family home' in the Bronx. You have no understanding for how a mother can desert her mentally ill child......the joke is made painfully real. "My folks left while I was out and left no forwarding address." For the first time in my long life, I visit a Potter's Field and am told "There is no funeral." They are buried in a mass grave, each in a wooden box. Even as we are shown the box, the photos left as a memorial blow away, leaving no trace of that human being's individuality, his genius. Having met many intelligent, well-educated homeless whose shell is too brittle to bear the 'slings and arrows of outrageous fortune', I wonder how we in this country dare call ourselves 'civilized'. Yet I remember the admonishment in my training in Clearwater, when i volunteered to help out at a church's homeless shelter: "Don't ever think you can change them, can make their lives right again. You can only serve them where they are." This movie makes even more clear why the homeless man snapped at me, as I whistled while cleaning up the mats in the morning: "What are you so happy about?" Maybe he knew what I didn't: I was whistling because I wasn't him. Great movie, but for God's sake, don't ignore what you take from it. Dillon and Glover punch up the point: There but for the grace of God go I. No wonder this movie wasn't 'popular'. It points the finger right at you and me, for the injustice we do to these, the helpless.

Matthew (Matt Dillon) wanders the streets of New York with his empty camera after his apartment got illegally torn down by a slum lord. He ends up in the Fort Washington homeless shelter. He is befriended by homeless veteran Jerry (Danny Glover). Little Leroy (Ving Rhames) is the shelter toughie. The friends are a part of a squeegee crew.

There is a bit of fakeness here, but I can accept that. After all, these are Hollywood stars trying to look homeless. Matt Dillon's constant five o'clock shadow is a little bothersome. Maybe he could shave in a fast food bathroom. They just need to be kicked out of a few more places. There's no mention of the darker drugs and alcohol abuses. There are some good slum locations although they must be a shrinking area by the 90's. There are some real undeniable heart-wrenching turns in the last act and the two leads have great chemistry.

When a photographer is forced out of his home, he goes to Fort Washington and met fellow homeless and tries to move forward with his predicament. Its very standard uplifting work.

Its pretty much anchored by great acting. Dillon' and Glover's noble performance as two homeless people who find themselves in each others arms. They were just in the role. Dillon plays the weird and quirky photgrapher Matthew and Glover's Jerry is delightfully wonderful as his counterpart - the more experienced homeless of the two. The script did get too sentimental at times BUT those two was able to tune out those problems and lift the material. Dillon proves to be one of the most underrated actor of that decade.

Also, great cinematography. Apparently, made by that guy that worked with a lot of great filmmakers of the era - specifically, Jim Jarmusch(Down by Law) and David Lynch(Eraserhead).

Overall, a forgettable film with notable acting performances.

As a former NYPD officer I can tell you this film is so realistic it's scary. the terrifying homeless shelters of NY are one step above Dante's Inferno. Potters field on Hart's island is also portrayed exactly as it is.

This Matt Dillon is some kind of actor. How do actors like this get passed over while morons like Sandler and Stiller are so highly praised? This world is just a little upside down. I have a feeling we wont be seeing many more movies like the saint of fort washington now that shrek 2 has busted all previous box office records. Like I said this world is just a little upside down! Danny Glover is also great in his role. So sad that we can spend 200 billion in Iraq and not provide proper facilities for our own mentally disturbed people.

Not enough movies focus on homelessness. One that does is "The Saint of Fort Washington", starring Matt Dillon and Danny Glover as indigents who meet up in a shelter and form a bond. The movie depicts the gritty existence of these men, forced to wash windshields for money while a tough guy (Ving Rhames) threatens them in the shelter.

The coronavirus has forced homelessness back into our consciousness (crises do tend to lay the unpleasant things bare). With many out of work for an extended time, they can't pay rent and face evictions.

Anyway, it's a good movie. Also appearing are Rick Aviles (Willy Lopez in "Ghost"), Nina Siemaszko and Joe Seneca (the scientist in "The Blob").

This is the film which I cherish above all others and one which I will never forget.

A look into the lives of the destitute people in the street and in the the shelters made for them, particularly the Fort Washington Shelter for Men.

The story is told through the eyes of its principle narrator Jerry (Danny Glover). The story is about Matthew (Matt Dillon), a young schizophrenic, who finds himself evicted when his apartment building is torn down.

He tries to ask for his welfare money but is told to go elsewhere to a non-existent address. He eventually ends up outside the the Fort Washington Shelter for Men, where he first encounters Jerry. He attempts to take a photo of Jerry with his camera, which offends Jerry. Matthew however tells Jerry that the camera is empty and that his hobby is photography. Jerry begins to take an interest in Matthew.

He is threatened in the bathroom by Little Leroy, a much feared thug, who preys upon the weaker members of the Fort Washington Shelter for Men. But however he is timely rescued by Jerry who breaks Leroy's arm in the process. Leroy swears his vengeance against both Jerry and Matthew.

Jerry, a streetwise combat veteran, takes Matthew under his wing. The relationship between these two men grows as they attempt to conquer the numbing isolation of homelessness.

Jerry earns some money by cleaning the windows of cars as the pass through a busy part of the street. He teaches Matthew this profession, whop speedily masters it. Matthew soon begins to save up some money. Jerry buys Matthew some film so that he can start taking some photos.

Jerry tells Matthew more about his personal life. He advises Mathew that to escape from the shelters they have only to save enough money to rent an apartment and so escape the Fort Washington shelter. He also tells Matthew about his dream of selling fruits and vegetables from the back of a car to make fast and easy money.

The two men now begin to have a goal in life: to rent an apartment and start a business for themselves.

Will they achieve their dreams? It is up to you to watch the film and see what happens next.

An outstanding performance by both Danny Glover and Matt Dillon and both are deserving of an Oscar. As well as an Oscar for the director Tim Hunter. Ving Rhames is also brilliant in his role as Little Leroy. The cinematography is good showing the busy city life and the packed Fort Washington Shelter.

Overall 10/10. A film you will remember of the rest of your life.

This is a very inspirational movie and very heartfelt as well. You will laugh and cry along with the actors as they go through the struggles of living on the streets. It is a very hard life and the movie is increasingly honest about living in poverty and trying to get back up after being knocked down. The actors in this movie, Danny Glover and Matt Dillon offer, maybe, their best performances ever! The imagery is very true to life and cinematography is stellar as these two try to make ends meet. You won't be sorry to see this movie and I believe it will change how you look at homeless people, it did me! Very strongly encourage you and all of your friends to see this movie!

It was one of my finest movie experiences to watch that movie. I only had the chance to watch this masterpiece once on TV a few years ago, but I can say that I can't forget the effect it made on me. Especially, the scene where Danny Glover was wiping the car windows waiting for the green light for some cash. The way he was getting his job seriously and the drivers who were not even looking at him. A wonderful human film which shows what we are. I am still confused when those red light people come over my car and try to sell something and realizing that I am too is afraid of looking into their faces. Are they there or just we don't care them.

Excellent movie.

This film shows that people who lives in the underworld of poverty in big cities.

But it does so from a realistic and dramatic view. The characters are well portrayed.The plot is simple, and unfortunately close to reality.

One of the virtues of the movie is that it is not overloaded with elements to increase the drama. life is shown as it is.

Good direction, The soundtrack score by J.Newton Howard fits perfectly to the film .

The acting is also at good level with Danny Glover and Matt Dillon

8/10

Here we are dealing with the real human nature, a blind society, the excluded of the system for endless reasons, that includes so many variables whose for some mishaps felt into street as homeless, underscoring in bold letters that the picture wasn't a big production of major proportions, just a small picture that dared to expose how the mankind tries out sweep underneath the carpet to hidden the garbage.

Anchored in two strong actors as Matt Dillon and Danny Glover which gave to the picture the needful greatness to catch the audience, Matthew (Matt Dillon) a young guy who suffer of the ill schizophrenia, just out of sanatorium without a proper support of his mother, stayed adrift, then he meets with Jerry (Danny Glover) a veteran soldier at Homeless's shelter Fort Washington in New York, soon realizes that Matthew needs a help to carry on alive due his hard illness, Jerry a former mid class worker who went bankrupt due his old partner spent all money on horse races ends up in the gutter and also lost your wife and children.

Jerry proposes to Matthew a partnership in a business to sell vegetables at street soon they could rent a small cheap apartment, so they must work so hard as car's windscreen wiper at traffic street to gathering some enough money ta take ahead this smaller enterprise, it's what they dream glimpse for the near future, however the real life is cruel, many troubles crossing their footsteps, black shadows is coming.

The Director Tim Hunter with the writer Lyle Kessler sets out a humanist point of view for those that don't see these invisibles people whose are part of the urban landscape, shedding light in this constant issue that we can't ignore, this picture is pure poetry for the people's lowly heart, as a read somewhere " If this don't change your feelings, nothing will", also the official DVD available in Brazil sadly have a poor image, needing a proper restauration for next release, I'm praying for due the greatness this movie means for me, an authentic and forgotten near masterpiece!!

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1996 / Source: TV-DVD / How many: 3 / Rating: 9.

One of the movies you will remember always. Matt Dillon is just riveting in his role as Matthew. If you don't think much of him as an actor, then this is a must see. Not playing a misguided teen in this one, but a sad person you want to see win in a world you can't win in. Danny glover is as always great and together they're a real team.

Do yourself a favor, and watch this moving sweet film. Don't forget to tell others about it. I will watch it again. I think you will too.

There are some people, who don't manage to make the american dream, because they are not 'good' enough when it comes to cheating your fellow man of his money or somehow lie yourself to the top. In old Germany there was a saying: "And even if the business is ever so small it still gives you more than honest work."

And then there are some people who find market economy offensive, find all business offensive and deeply immoral and who therefor are unable in 'making it'.

And then there are some who have gifts, which are of a kind, that they simply do not fit in in this abomination we call the 'free world' and that world hits down on them real hard and it seems that world wants to rot out every bit of decency that is left amongst mankind.

A society is not measured by how it treats it most rich and powerful people. If so, there would be no difference between countries, since the most rich and powerful are having a fine time in any society today.

A society is measured by how it treats its misfits, the most powerless and poor.

Take a look in the mirror that this picture shows and 'SHAME ON YOU' if you ever mingle carefree and clueless amongst the idle rich.

This picture you see in the mirror of this film can only lead to shame amongst all of us, who are lucky enough not to belong to these miserable people. No place for fancy rationalizations here. Those who do not want or cannot belong to our sick world of business, we have no right to treat this way. A minimum of decency should be given everyone. Are we so sure, that we can do without them? Is it not so, that there is more chance to find somebody amongst them, who can lead us out from this graveyard we are digging, than there is a chance to find that somebody in the likes of the present president? Is there not more truth amongst these homeless than you will find on any dinner-party?

I just ask.