Roger Donaldson directed this undercover police thriller as small town southwest deputy sheriff Ray Dolezal(played by Willem Dafoe) finds a body in the desert with a suitcase full of cash, and no idea how or why it got there. Ray then goes to the extraordinary length of taking on the identity of the dead man in order to get to the bottom of the matter, and finds himself involved with rogue agents of the FBI(Samuel Jackson) & CIA(Mickey Rourke), and also involved with a beautiful woman philanthropist(played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), despite being happily married... Mediocre film has a good cast and director but an unconvincing and convoluted story that leaves the viewer unsatisfied.

At least this film has some terrific desert scenery, especially at the beginning and at the end. But the spectacular New Mexico vistas are not nearly enough to overcome a garbled storyline about a good-guy cop named Ray Dolezal (Willem Dafoe) who investigates the death of a man clutching a suitcase full of loot. Implausibly, Dolezal then assumes the identity of the dead man, to track down the villain or villains. The plot contains several potential villains, but their real identities and their various motivations are terribly confusing. About halfway into the film, I gave up trying to figure out who was doing what to whom. None of the characters are especially interesting.The story also suffers from various standard film clichés: tough guys who talk tough, characters who spend a lot of time pointing guns at each other; the obligatory nude shower scene, a gory autopsy, and so on. Another big problem here is the casting of Willem Dafoe. With his heavy-duty Northern accent, he is not at all convincing as a redneck sheriff.Lacking thematic depth or significant originality, "White Sands" is just another film about some cop who tries to solve a crime alone, and in the process encounters assorted characters and risks. The only thing that made the movie halfway interesting to me was the expansive New Mexico landscape.

Trying to figure out "White Sands" is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with quite a few missing pieces. This overcomplicated movie challenges the viewer's understanding way too much, and eventually you will lose interest. It really is a shame because the cast gives their best effort with what is a severely disjointed script. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and the blue Corvette are easy on the eyes, but it's not enough to maintain momentum, and the whole thing derails twenty minutes in and never recovers. True there are a few strong scenes, but a plethora of dead material is unfortunately connecting them. Not recommended. - MERK

The plot is extremely lame even for a suspense movie. Viewers' high expectation easily turns into disappointment.Here is also one of Defoe's worst performances. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to smile and grin "a la Rourke"; or maybe the poor guy is just embarassed silly by the implausible and contrived story. Samuel Jackson, in his pre-Pulp-Fiction existence, suffers from a sad lack of screen presence. On the other hand, Rourke's "charisma", if you choose to call his oily self that, proves to be indestructable. But why bother?4 out of 10.