The Salton Sea (2002)
Written: Sep 13 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Looks good, Kilmer, supporting cast
Cons: too much going on at times. not always easy to follow, to say the least.
The Bottom Line: An interesting, little seen film that should be seeked out on video - but necessarily a great film by any means.
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| lemon_lime's Full Review: The Salton Sea |
I have to be honest, I'm not completely sure what I think of The Salton Sea. I know there were parts I liked, I know there were parts I disliked - and felt distracted from the overall film - and I also admit to not always understanding what was going on. It felt like I was watching it drunk, even though I wasn't. It's sort of hard to put into words, but it's like watching something that you can almost follow, but not quite, and you feel you probably missed something somewhere while you were busy putting back a few. This also needs to be said: I don't especially want to watch the film a second time in order to figure everything exactly out.
I've heard some people compare the structure of this film to Memento, but it's really nothing of the sort. Sure, it starts at the end (sort of) and goes back and forth in time now and again, but the majority of the narrative drive is in a somewhat linear, chronological line. It's not the jumping around in time that is hard to stay with - it's the massive amounts of characters and trying to figure out exactly who is trying to hustle who that complicates the whole thing. There's just too many names and faces to keep up with in the long run. And now, after writing this first paragraph, I've decided to move my rating from 4 stars down to 3. Because really, shouldn't you at least want to watch a 4 star movie again in the future (In the Bedroom notwithstanding)?
Val Kilmer has never been a particular favorite of mine. I feel he's done okay in certain roles, but has only really shined in a couple of them (The Doors being his brightest moment). And at first sight (oops, mentioned the worst film he ever made on accident!) it might appear that Kilmer was making a movie like this in order to establish some sort of indie or street credibility. I mean, Luis Guzman doesn't act in mainstream pictures! But he actually pulls off his double role quite respectably - I bought into his inner pain, the emotional tatters he was in. His motives and actions, in essence, were the only clearly defined ones in the entire film.
Kilmer plays a man whose wife was shot dead in a raid on a meth lab near the Salton Sea (they had stopped in to ask directions). He watched helplessly from the bathroom as his wife was shot and killed. Obviously, this does things to a man, his pride, his sense of heroism, etc. He is plauged by what he should have done, how he should have at the least died trying to protect her, instead of watching it all go down in a cowardly fashion, from the floor of the bathroom that hid him.
He soon becomes a one man detective team, getting into the speed-freak scene and working with undercover tops as a rat, in hopes of one day revenging his wife's killer. That is about as much as I can tell you, because quite frankly, if I tried to explain the rest I'm not sure I would make any sense. And if I did manage to get it right, it still probably wouldn't make any sense to read. Again, that's why this is a 3 star film. It was good, riveting at times even, while it was on. But in the end, I'm not sure all the dots connected and I don't especially care to go back and do all the work required to connect them in a second viewing.
Somehow I've managed to make it this far into the review without mentioning the wonderfully bizarre performance (sans nose) of Vincent D'Onofrio. Playing a major speed dealer who goes by the name of Pooh Bear, Onofrio is a whacked out portrait of eccentric, nearly surreal proportions. I was being serious before, he literally doesn't have a nose. He snorted so much crank that they had to remove it - and although he wears a prosthetic nose most of the film, he doesn't always feel the need to wear it. The scenes between him and Kilmer are some of the best in the film.
So, all in all, I think I've basically explained my position on The Salton Sea. It's advice I hate to give out, or even see myself type, but you really do need to see this movie for yourself if you wish to understand this review and the film itself. A review just ain't gonna do it. Sorry, I gave it my best shot.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
lemon_lime
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Member: Chad
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