Film Review: The Salton Sea (2002)
Methamphetamines differ from other forms of hard drugs because they are supposed to be easily made at home, thus removing the need for users to rely on organised crime for supply. Sadly, this theory was never proven in practice and a much darker reality serves as the basis for The Salton Sea, a 2002 crime thriller directed by D. J. Caruso.
The protagonist, played by Val Kilmer, is Danny Parker, a man who has spent the last year of his life hanging out with "speed freaks" from the Los Angeles underworld, gradually becoming one of them. Some of the information he has gathered, he has shared with police detectives Gus Morgan (played by Doug Hutchison) and Al Garcetti (played by Anthony LaPaglia), whom he has helped take down a number of major dealers. Some of them want retribution, so Danny decides to leave Los Angeles. With the help of his friend Jimmy the Finn (played by Peter Sarsgaard), he plans to set up a big deal – the purchase of a large amount of drugs by Pooh Bear (played by Vincent D'Onofrio), a major dealer who, because of too much snorting, has lost not only his nose but also a large part of his sanity. Danny soon realises that he is being followed by a mysterious car, while remembering his past life when he used to be a jazz musician and had a beautiful wife. But, thanks to the drugs he has consumed recently, Danny isn't certain whether his past life is a product of his imagination, whether he is indeed being followed, and whether his true name is really Danny.
The script by Tony Gayton delivers a rather conventional story, but it is given an unconventional treatment by director D. J. Caruso in his feature debut. This can be seen in the opening scene featuring the protagonist sitting on the ground and playing the trumpet while fire engulfs the room around him. What follows is a series of flashbacks, voice-over in the style of film noir, and an interesting attempt to familiarise the "normie" audience with the strange world of methamphetamine and its addicts. Many would be prone to describe The Salton Sea as some sort of surreal mix of earlier films like Memento, Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction and L. A. Confidential. Yet, despite that, The Salton Sea will represent a disappointment due to its conventional, predictable and hasty deus ex machina ending. Many of the "cool" elements of the film seem artificially inserted into the plot, some subplots (like the one dealing with Danny's family) aren't used enough, while others (like Danny's neighbour played by Deborah Kara Unger) aren't necessary. What rescues this film is the excellent acting. Val Kilmer, after a relatively long pause, returned to the big screen and did an impressive job, although some might look at his character as too similar to Guy Pearce's in Memento. Kilmer is overshadowed by most of his colleagues, especially Vincent D'Onofrio who, for the sake of his role, gained excessive weight and carefully studied how people without noses talked. Although The Salton Sea looks like a mere reflection of much better films, it has a couple of interesting scenes that would justify the audience's attention.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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