The Salton Sea | Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg

The Salton Sea | Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg | A Great Drug Movie and Just a Great Film All Around

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The Salton Sea

	The Salton Sea Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg Warner Home Video, 2002 average customer review:based on 102 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Losing and Finding A Man

Meet Danny Parker, a "tweaker". Tweakers are meth users who spend their lives on the highest of highs, and Danny seems to fit in comfortably with his fellow druggies. But when Danny returns to his small apartment, he pulls down a secret case from his closet and puts on the clothes he finds in it. And there's a trumpet in there, too, that he plays beautifully. Danny is now Tom Van Allen. Wait. Is that right? Or is it the other way around? And why does this guy seem to have two distinctive personalities?

As the story of Danny/Tom unravels, we get to see him meeting with two detectives who use him as a snitch. But as the film continues its seemingly normal route, we suddenly begin to see some side-roads from Danny's life. His wife was killed during a supposed turf war between drug dealers (she just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time), and Danny had to watch helplessly as she was executed; a scene that Danny plays over and over again in his mind and dreams. So why has Danny become a meth user when it was a portion of this lifestyle that caused his wife's death?

Revenge perhaps?

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Although sounding cliche-ish (i.e., murdered wife's husband seeks retribution for her death), nothing about this film is a cliche. The way the story slowly comes into focus is quite stunning. And Val Kilmer's performance is his best since Doc Holiday in "Tombstone".

The viewer knows nothing about Danny's past initially, nor why his wife was killed, but as that thread of the story gets woven into the plot, another thread suddenly appears ...and then another, and another, and another. Amazing.

The all-star cast also adds weight to the film as we get to see Vincent D'Onofrio (Full Metal Jacket) play Pooh Bear, a dealer who's done so much meth that he no longer has a nose and who's mind is so far gone that he likes to reenact the assassination of JFK using pigeons strapped into radio controlled toy cars. And Meat Loaf even makes a brief appearance! I hadn't seen him in years! I used to love his music!

This film is definitely something for film noir fans to watch. It seems like a dark subject and, to some extent, it is. But not completely.

Can Danny/Tom become one man again? Or, perhaps, become an entirely new man? Or will he burn in the flames of his own making? You've gotta watch this and find out.

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A Great Drug Movie and Just a Great Film All Around

The director of "Taking Lives" and the writer of "Murder By Numbers" have made a movie that has surpassed both of those films. "The Salton Sea" is a terrific movie with some stellar performances by everyone. Val Kilmer recently made a drug movie called "Wonderland" and while I did like the movie, this film I think is quite possibly Kilmers best film. Kilmer plays Danny.
Danny is a lot of things. Tweaker, snitch, and trumpet player?
Danny basically leads a double life. For this however he has a good reason. I don't want to tell you the reason and I hate how Amazon kind of tells you, cause I consider that like revealing the twist in "The Sixth Sense." Anyway, Danny hangs out with his friend Jimmy (Peter Sarsgaard) at crack houses and then reports
them to the cops (Anthony LaPaglia and that dude from "The Green Mile"). While trying to make a drug deal by himself with the sadistic, noseless Pooh Bear (Vincent D'Onofrio, who looks like he's having fun) the cops find out and all of Dannys secrets may be revealed. The many twists that this movie has are terrific and the movie unfolded nicely. Another thing I noticed is that this movie was a lot better than most drug films that are being released today. I think this film was better than the movie "Traffic" which won 4 Oscars. Kilmer, who I dislike, was terrific and could become one of my favorite actors. A.

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Nothing is as it seems

Val Kilmer's character warns the viewer right at the beginning that nothing is what it appears to be. Is Kilmer Danny, a punk-rock meth tweaker turned police snitch? Or is he a talented jazz musician named Todd Van Allen? The beautifully shot film noir presents many pieces to the puzzle, all of which fit together perfectly for a shocker of an ending. There really aren't words to decribe the movie or the storyline--it's just something you have to let unfold for itself.

Vincent D'Onofrio is stellar as the villianous messed-up desert drug king in the movie.

It's strange that this movie is cross-marketed with Spun so frequently. Yes, both are set in the world of methamphetamine, but Spun is an almost comedic train wreck of a drug trip, while The Salton Sea is a larger than life fable that happens to be set in the world of the Southern California meth industry.

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Much better than average neo-noir, beatifully shot.

Val Kilmer gives us Tom Van Allen, a jazz musician embarked on a quest through the world of methamphetamine dealers, users and other predators. Kilmer is wonderful, as usual, in this alternately harrowing and hilarious post-Pulp Fiction noir thriller.

The whole cast is pretty wonderful as well. I especially enjoyed Vincent D'Onofrio as an eccentric drug dealer who has clearly been too long in the high desert.

The real standout element of the film, however, is the photography by Amir Mokri. Unlike some neo-noir, Mokri and director D.J. Caruso effectively balance high-key daytime shots with the darker interior and night shots, and all of them are excellently done.

The best elements of the screenplay are the many funny scenes, including a might-have-been heist gone wrong, a recreation of the JFK assassination, and a wonderful update of the "Easy Andy" scene from Taxi Driver.

The Salton Sea is worth seeing for fans of Kilmer, noir or both.

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Rough Sea

It's difficult to review "The Salton Sea" because it is a film that is intricately plotted with a story that has enough twists that you run the risk of spoiling for the uninitiated. Credit director D.J. Caruso and scriptwiter Tony Gayton for this compelling film set predominately in the seamy milieu of the drug world. For about the first half of the film I thought this was a series of imaginative but fragmented segments that didn't seem to be going anywhere. It's at this point that the different story threads start to cohere and the film becomes compelling. The ensemble work of the film's cast is great led by Val Kilmer as Danny Parker, jazz musician/drug addict/police informant/etc. Kilmer does not overplay the part and strikes just the right tone. Vincent D'Onofrio is absolutely terrifying as Pooh Bear, a drug dealer who lost his nose from imbibing in his own product. The always good Peter Sarsgaard does a nice turn as Danny's fellow druggie. Anthony LaPaglia and Doug Hutchison do good work as a pair of sleazy narcs. This is not a film that is easy to watch at times but if you can navigate the rough parts you will find a rewarding viewing experience.

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