Directed by:
D.J. CarusoScreenplay:
Tony GaytonCinematography:
Amir MokriComposer:
Thomas NewmanCast:
Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg, Luis Guzmán, Doug Hutchison, Anthony LaPaglia, Glenn Plummer, Peter Sarsgaard, Deborah Kara Unger, Chandra West (more)Plots(1)
Danny Parker (VAL KILMER) is a man in search of redemption, consumed by a sense of loneliness and alienation. Following the death of his wife (CHANDRA WEST), he is set adrift in a seedy underworld inhabited by an eclectic, and often comical, cast of characters united principally by their choice of drug: crystal methamphetamine. An accomplished jazz musician, Danny is now a low-life "tweaker" in Los Angeles who leads us through a frenzied maze, one from which he must emerge before his tenuous grip on reality snaps for good. In a bold attempt Danny secretly hatches a plan to serve as middle-man in a lucrative drug deal. With the help of his friend Jimmy "The Finn" (PETER SARSGAARD), Danny is introduced to Pooh-Bear (VINCENT D'ONOFRIO), a methamphetamine baron with a penchant for sadistic recreational games, who seals the deal. But in this mad world, nothing - most of all Danny - is what it seems. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (3)
Wilderness. Visually captivating in the mold of 8MM. One of Val Kilmer’s best roles and a parade of extraordinarily wacky bad guys – the noseless Vincent D’Onofrio properly turned my stomach. But The Salton Sea stumbles somewhere along the way. The pseudo-artsy visual interludes (the trumpeter, the sea, the tree) have no place in it and, at the same time, the harmony between the incessantly dynamic form and the powerfully psychological content is creaky. In this respect, Joel Schumacher was better, as he remained firmly in the psychological and escalated the dynamics only in selected scenes so that he didn’t drown in them.
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The Salton Sea is neither flawless nor groundbreaking. It's simply a well-made genre film with a functional script and a range of interesting, fully realized characters. The film ventures into uncertain territory with its attempts at psychological, artful scenes, but fortunately, the crime storyline prevails, featuring wild, tragicomic camera excursions into a bizarre community of addicts. Val Kilmer delivers a strong performance, Deborah Unger provides reliable acting, and the repulsive criminal types portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio and Luis Guzmán, create a mix that can satisfy even more discerning film fans. Overall impression: 75%.
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A visually stunning film, but one that lags behind its much stronger and denser brethren in terms of content (8MM, Requiem for a Dream, etc.).
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