The Salton Sea (2002)

Waste of time

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

D.J. Caruso's The Salton Sea is like two great films for the price of one. On one hand you have elements of a zany, off the wall meth addiction screwball comedy (not unlike Jonas Ackerlund's Spun, which I will be reviewing as well). Those comedic elements are wrapped in a very tragic, violent and vengeful film noir, with a brooding, paced melancholy that chills the heart. Val Kilmer stars as Danny Parker, a scumbag tweaker who snitches out fellow addicts to two corrupt narcs (Doug Hutchison and Anthony Lapaglia, equal parts hilarious and scary). But he's also Tom Van Allen, a stoic trumpet player who has been driven to this life of unending nocturnal madness through bloody and unfortunate circumstance. I won't say any more than that or I'll spoil the plot. Kilmer plays both sides of the coin willingly, and in a way is perfect for both aspects of this character, as he has always had a flair for both mournful gravitas (The Saint, Batman) and hyperactive lunacy (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Willow). Vincent D'Onofrio almost steals the film away from him though, playing a deranged crank dealer named Pooh Bear, who I quote "snorted so much gack they had to chop his nose off". He is a plastic nosed monster with a bleached blonde cut and a chilling nasally whine that produces nightmares. Vancouver born Deborah Kara Unger gives a restrained performance as Danny's down on her luck neighbour. The supporting cast rocks it, with appearances from Meat Loaf, Luis Guzman, R. Lee Ermey, Peter Saarsgard, Adam Goldberg, Glenn Plummer and Danny Trejo. I've heard people whine about this film being style over substance. Well, when you have a style this distinct, a score this good, a color palette this gorgeous, so what if the visual and auditory aesthetic takes over a bit? It still has enough exposition and character motivation to surge forward with purpose. A very underrated, delightfully off kilter late 90's noir entry well worth watching.

Have you ever thought about being someone else? Just leaving behind everything you know and diving headfirst into a new name with new friends and new interests? Would that really erase who you were before? The story begins with several drug users in the midst of a binge. The narrator, "Danny Parker" (played by Val Kilmer) is also the main character. The drug that he and his companions are and have been consuming for several days is methamphetamine. "Danny" (Kilmer) then gives a brief editorial describing the history of methamphetamine, from its initial invention to the changing profile of the user over the years from kamikaze pilots to housewives to truck drivers and motorcycle gangs. We are then returned to the drug den where one of the users, known as Cujo (played by Adam Goldberg) screams to the entire room that their supply has run out. "Danny" and another addict "Jimmy the Finn" (played by Peter Sarsgaard) leave to buy more from a user and dealer that Jimmy is acquainted with. After "Danny" has returned with the drugs and the binge runs its course, he informs on the dealer to officers Gus Morgan (played by Doug Hutchison) and Al Garcetti (played by Anthony LaPaglia). His dealings with law enforcement are a secret he keeps from his fellow users. Once he's alone and in his own apartment, however, we are shown yet another secret which is kept not only from those he injects methamphetamine with, but also the police he informs to. He sheds his jewelry, washes out the Mohawk he regularly sports, and then states to the empty room that his name is Tom Van Allen and that he's a trumpet player.This is an amazing movie. Kilmer manages to perfectly portray a loving husband and trumpet player and then seamlessly transform into a derelict drug abuser. LaPaglia and Hutchison, as characters whose true nature and motives are not known at first, put forth performances that are almost as compelling, if not equally so. Deborah Kara Unger as the one character that Kilmer bears his soul to brings an entirely different dimension and resolution to the story. By this point, it should be obvious that this film isn't for everyone. Nonetheless, I highly recommend it.

The writer of The Salton Sea, Tony Gayton, said that he didn't intend for his script to be made into the film, but wrote it out as an experiment, a piece that he could show off to Hollywood execs so that he could get other writing jobs (this is actually a much more common occurrence in getting writing jobs than you'd think). When the studio decided to make the script into a film, I wonder now seeing the film if its director DJ Caruso intended the same as his writer when he was making it. This is a film for a select bunch of viewers, and perhaps not even them at all.Who is the audience for The Salton Sea? Most likely that cultish group of movie-goers that loves trippy drug movies with black humor (its visual style screams out at times LOOK AT ME, with a musical track that accompanies it). But it's also got a story like a film-noir, or even that of a crime story off of nighttime network TV, where a guy goes undercover... and is going undercover even deeper again for another organization, all in the memory of his late wife. It's this clash that makes Salton Sea captivating, and also, at times, not very likable as a movie. It looks like it's cribbed from other movies, better ones (Trainspotting as one example, The Kind of New York as another), and morphed into its own thing.For the gaps in logic that the film has, and it definitely has a few (for one thing, when it's revealed how Kilmer's wife really died, it's kind of stupid why they were even where they were in the first place - and also, later on in the film, what the twisted relationship is between Kilmer and the cops he rats to on his life in the meth game), the film entertains and engages with its bizarre humor and even some of its predictable noirish elements (for example Deborah Kara Unger's subplot with the abusive husband). Caruso wants this to be a dark film with some surreal touches- something he makes us aware of in the first scene as trumpet player Daniel Parker (or is it Tommy Van Allen) plays on in the midst of a fire around him- and as long as he doesn't let things slip too far into the expected, it fares well.Supporting actors help out a great deal in ensembles, and it's here that an actor like Vincent D'Onofrio can go to town. He plays the no-nosed drug dealer Pooh-bear (named after poor Winnie sticking his nose into too much honey), and is so bonkers as he tries to outdo anything in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Arguably, he goes too far with it, especially with his character's penchant for having an actual badger eating a man's genitals. But it works as a crazy buffer in the midst of other plot lines that take themselves almost too seriously (the undercover plot) or not really at all (the Meth buddies plot to steal Bob Hope's stool, which is meant to played for laughs but felt kind of stale ala Tarantino). Others who stand out include Stellan Sarsgaard as Kilmer's Meth-buddie, and BD Wong who for most of the film plays a character so unlike we've seen him play on Oz or Law & Order.And as for Kilmer... he does alright. Nothing really great or audacious (he doesn't shoot for the moon like Jim Morrison) and nothing to be ashamed of. His narration either is very good or poor, usually based on the script. His mournful look resonates at first, but he does better at playing stoned in front of the cops or trying to stay on edge like in front of the bugged-out dealer with the woman trapped under his bed. And as more quirky and comic-book characters and twists come out of the woodwork, he holds his own and makes the film watchable, if not too demanding of the viewer.

I've watched a number of Val Kilmer movies over the years and this is by far Val's best performance. While Val has always been more of a supporting actor, he really shines as the main character Danny Parker/Tom Van Allen in The Salton Sea. The plot is great and the acting is solid all around. The serious dramatic nature works well with the splash of dark humor throughout the film. It's sad to see The Salton Sea not get the notoriety it deserves. Coming from someone who has seen A LOT of movies, this is in my top 50 for sure. Val really shows he's more than the hunk from Top Gun, the crazed college kid from Real Genius, and even the gambling junkie/pro thief from Heat. Val outdoes even his performance as Jim Morrison in The Doors(1991).So, give this film a look and let yourself slip into the underground life of the perpetual night party. And get a taste of the life of Danny Parker. A tweaker with nothing to lose and a life he'll never get back.