The Salton Sea
Encyclopedia
The Salton Sea is a 2002 American neo-noir
film starring Val Kilmer
and Vincent D'Onofrio
directed by D. J. Caruso
.
, who hangs out with friends while indulging in drugs. He also moonlights as an informant
for two corrupt cops, Gus Morgan (Doug Hutchison
) and Al Garcetti (Anthony LaPaglia
). He is trying to set up a large meth score with notorious drug dealer Pooh Bear (D'Onofrio), an eccentric psychopath who lost his nose to excessive snorting of "Gack" (meth), while also attempting to set up a sting operation
for Morgan and Garcetti.
When he returns home, Danny sheds his clothes and his personality, and basks in his past life as trumpet
player "Tom Van Allen". He reveals to an abused neighbor named Colette (Deborah Kara Unger
) that he was once happily married, only to watch as his wife was gunned down by masked thieves during a stopover at the Salton Sea
.
When meeting with Pooh Bear, Danny becomes fearful of Pooh Bear's displays of bizarre homicidal behavior, so he tapes a gun to the bottom of a table.
Danny's parents-in-law track him down, believing he has sunk into depression
after his wife's death, but he tells them he doesn't want their help. As the deal approaches, it becomes known that Danny is not only working for the police but FBI agents working to take down Morgan and Garcetti, who have committed multiple murders. It is also revealed that they were the men who killed his wife and wounded him as they robbed a drug dealer. Danny had started his own investigation when he found out who Morgan was and delved into the drug underworld
to become a believable junkie.
On the night of the deal, Danny, with the help of his best friend Jimmy (Peter Sarsgaard
), leads the FBI to the wrong location. Meanwhile, Danny arrives at Pooh Bear's house. At the dinner table, surrounded by Pooh Bear's armed friends, tensions rise and one of Pooh Bear's men tries to kill Danny, who retrieves the gun he stashed earlier and shoots the rest of the gang. Shot in the chest by Pooh Bear, Danny collapses to the floor.
Pooh Bear, wounded in the leg, goes to take a shot of meth while mumbling incoherently. Morgan and Garcetti arrive, find the massacre, and Garcetti kills Pooh Bear, whose drug-filled hypo drops to the floor. Garcetti is then killed by Danny, whose life was saved by a bulletproof vest. Morgan is shot twice by Danny, who reveals to Morgan that he knows he murdered his wife. Morgan manages to snatch Danny's gun away, but finds it empty. Danny finds Pooh Bear's syringe on the floor and plunges it into Morgan's neck, then picks up a pistol and briefly contemplates suicide, but then shoots Morgan several times and flees.
Back in his apartment, he dons his Tom Van Allen identity again, but is shot by Colette's "boyfriend" (Luis Guzman
), who is actually a man Danny ratted out to the police. Collette says she was forced to betray Danny because her daughter was being held hostage. The room catches fire, and Danny plays one more tune on his trumpet before passing out.
He regains consciousness to find that Jimmy has saved him from the fire and taken him to a hospital. After he recovers, he leaves the city, and the identities of Danny and Tom, behind.
liked the film and the characters but gave it a mixed review:
Critic Robert Koehler, writing in Variety
magazine, also gave the gave the film a mixed review, writing, "The latest fashion, The Salton Sea strains past the breaking point to provide the old genre with new couture. Tyro helmer D.J. Caruso appears compelled to strut his cinematic stuff in every scene, whether called for or not, and in the process overplays his assignment."
The New York Times
film critic Stephen Holden
believes the film to be derivative, and wrote:
Slate
film critic David Edelstein
reviewed the work of actor Val Kilmer favorably, writing:
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
gives the film a score of 62% based on reviews from 85 critics, with an average rating of 5.8 out of 10.
Neo-noir
Neo-noir is a style often seen in modern motion pictures and other forms that prominently utilize elements of film noir, but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in films noir of the 1940s and 1950s.-History:The term Film Noir was coined by...
film starring Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
and Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent D'Onofrio
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
directed by D. J. Caruso
D. J. Caruso
Daniel John "D.J." Caruso is an American director and producer. Caruso has directed the films Disturbia, Two for the Money, Taking Lives, The Salton Sea, Eagle Eye and I Am Number Four. He has also directed television episodes for shows such as The Shield, Over There, Smallville, and Dark Angel...
.
Plot
While playing the trumpet in a burning room, the protagonist's voice is heard in narration. His story begins with him posing as "Danny Parker", a speed freak addicted to methamphetamineMethamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
, who hangs out with friends while indulging in drugs. He also moonlights as an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
for two corrupt cops, Gus Morgan (Doug Hutchison
Doug Hutchison
Doug Anthony Hutchison is an American actor, known for his roles in The Green Mile, as corrections officer Percy Wetmore, Eugene Victor Tooms in The X-Files, as Horace Goodspeed in Lost and as Davros in 24. He owns the production company Dark Water Inc.-Personal life:Hutchison was born in Dover,...
) and Al Garcetti (Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony LaPaglia
Anthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama...
). He is trying to set up a large meth score with notorious drug dealer Pooh Bear (D'Onofrio), an eccentric psychopath who lost his nose to excessive snorting of "Gack" (meth), while also attempting to set up a sting operation
Sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
for Morgan and Garcetti.
When he returns home, Danny sheds his clothes and his personality, and basks in his past life as trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player "Tom Van Allen". He reveals to an abused neighbor named Colette (Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger
Deborah Kara Unger is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Crash , The Game , The Hurricane , White Noise , Silent Hill and 88 Minutes...
) that he was once happily married, only to watch as his wife was gunned down by masked thieves during a stopover at the Salton Sea
Salton Sea
The Salton Sea is a shallow, saline, endorheic rift lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault, predominantly in California's Imperial Valley. The lake occupies the lowest elevations of the Salton Sink in the Colorado Desert of Imperial and Riverside counties in Southern California. Like Death...
.
When meeting with Pooh Bear, Danny becomes fearful of Pooh Bear's displays of bizarre homicidal behavior, so he tapes a gun to the bottom of a table.
Danny's parents-in-law track him down, believing he has sunk into depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
after his wife's death, but he tells them he doesn't want their help. As the deal approaches, it becomes known that Danny is not only working for the police but FBI agents working to take down Morgan and Garcetti, who have committed multiple murders. It is also revealed that they were the men who killed his wife and wounded him as they robbed a drug dealer. Danny had started his own investigation when he found out who Morgan was and delved into the drug underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
to become a believable junkie.
On the night of the deal, Danny, with the help of his best friend Jimmy (Peter Sarsgaard
Peter Sarsgaard
John Peter Sarsgaard is an American film and stage actor. He landed his first feature role in the movie Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron...
), leads the FBI to the wrong location. Meanwhile, Danny arrives at Pooh Bear's house. At the dinner table, surrounded by Pooh Bear's armed friends, tensions rise and one of Pooh Bear's men tries to kill Danny, who retrieves the gun he stashed earlier and shoots the rest of the gang. Shot in the chest by Pooh Bear, Danny collapses to the floor.
Pooh Bear, wounded in the leg, goes to take a shot of meth while mumbling incoherently. Morgan and Garcetti arrive, find the massacre, and Garcetti kills Pooh Bear, whose drug-filled hypo drops to the floor. Garcetti is then killed by Danny, whose life was saved by a bulletproof vest. Morgan is shot twice by Danny, who reveals to Morgan that he knows he murdered his wife. Morgan manages to snatch Danny's gun away, but finds it empty. Danny finds Pooh Bear's syringe on the floor and plunges it into Morgan's neck, then picks up a pistol and briefly contemplates suicide, but then shoots Morgan several times and flees.
Back in his apartment, he dons his Tom Van Allen identity again, but is shot by Colette's "boyfriend" (Luis Guzman
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
), who is actually a man Danny ratted out to the police. Collette says she was forced to betray Danny because her daughter was being held hostage. The room catches fire, and Danny plays one more tune on his trumpet before passing out.
He regains consciousness to find that Jimmy has saved him from the fire and taken him to a hospital. After he recovers, he leaves the city, and the identities of Danny and Tom, behind.
Cast
- Val KilmerVal KilmerVal Edward Kilmer is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer became popular in the mid-1980s after a string of appearances in comedy films, starting with Top Secret! , then the cult classic Real Genius , as well as blockbuster action films, including a supporting role in Top Gun and a...
as Danny Parker/Tom Van Allen - Vincent D'OnofrioVincent D'OnofrioVincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname of "Human Chameleon"...
as Pooh-Bear - Adam GoldbergAdam GoldbergAdam Charles Goldberg is an American actor, director, producer, and musician.-Early life:Goldberg was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Donna and Earl Goldberg, a former lifeguard. His father is Jewish and his mother is a "lapsed" Roman Catholic of Irish, French, and German descent...
as Kujo - Luis GuzmánLuis GuzmánLuis Guzmán is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is known for his character work. For much of his career, he has played roles largely as sidekicks, thugs, or policemen....
as Quincy - Doug HutchisonDoug HutchisonDoug Anthony Hutchison is an American actor, known for his roles in The Green Mile, as corrections officer Percy Wetmore, Eugene Victor Tooms in The X-Files, as Horace Goodspeed in Lost and as Davros in 24. He owns the production company Dark Water Inc.-Personal life:Hutchison was born in Dover,...
as Gus Morgan - Anthony LaPagliaAnthony LaPagliaAnthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor. He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama...
as Al Garcetti - Glenn PlummerGlenn PlummerGlenn E. Plummer is an American film and television actor.Plummer was born in Richmond, California. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, primarily in supporting roles or small bit parts, such as High Top in Colors. His prominent roles came in the films Menace II Society, Speed,...
as Bobby - Peter SarsgaardPeter SarsgaardJohn Peter Sarsgaard is an American film and stage actor. He landed his first feature role in the movie Dead Man Walking in 1995. He then appeared in the 1998 independent films Another Day in Paradise and Desert Blue. That same year, Sarsgaard received a substantial role in The Man in the Iron...
as Jimmy the Finn - Deborah Kara UngerDeborah Kara UngerDeborah Kara Unger is a Canadian actress. She is known for her roles in the films Crash , The Game , The Hurricane , White Noise , Silent Hill and 88 Minutes...
as Colette - Chandra WestChandra West-1990s:West's career began in 1991 when she played a small part in the television series True Confections, a 1950s conservative drama about a woman with an ahead-of-her-time awareness...
as Liz - B.D. WongB.D. WongBradley Darryl "BD" Wong is an American actor, best-known for his roles as Dr. George Huang on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as Father Ray Mukada on HBO's Oz, Henry Wu in the movie Jurassic Park, and for his starring role as Song Liling in the Broadway production of M...
as Bubba - R. Lee ErmeyR. Lee ErmeyRonald Lee Ermey is a retired United States Marine Corps drill instructor and actor.Ermey has often played the roles of authority figures, such as his breakout performance as Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Metal Jacket, Mayor Tilman in the Alan Parker film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in...
as Verne Plummer - Shalom HarlowShalom HarlowShalom Harlow is a Canadian model and actress.-Life and career:Harlow was born in Oshawa, Ontario, the daughter of Sandi Herbert and David Harlow. Though her mother named her Shalom , meaning "peace" in Hebrew, her family is not Jewish. She was discovered at a Cure concert in Toronto and started...
as Nancy - Shirley KnightShirley KnightShirley Enola Knight is an American stage, film and television actress. She has been nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, in 1960 for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs and in 1962 for Sweet Bird of Youth....
a Nancy Plummer - Meat LoafMeat LoafMichael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
as Bo (as Michael Lee Aday) - Danny TrejoDanny TrejoDan "Danny" Trejo is an American actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, most notably in roles as an antagonist, or anti-hero.-Early life:...
as Little Bill
Reception
Film critic Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
liked the film and the characters but gave it a mixed review:
Critic Robert Koehler, writing in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine, also gave the gave the film a mixed review, writing, "The latest fashion, The Salton Sea strains past the breaking point to provide the old genre with new couture. Tyro helmer D.J. Caruso appears compelled to strut his cinematic stuff in every scene, whether called for or not, and in the process overplays his assignment."
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
film critic Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...
believes the film to be derivative, and wrote:
Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
film critic David Edelstein
David Edelstein
David Edelstein is the chief film critic for New York Magazine, as well as the film critic for NPR's Fresh Air and CBS Sunday Morning. He lives in Brooklyn, New York....
reviewed the work of actor Val Kilmer favorably, writing:
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
gives the film a score of 62% based on reviews from 85 critics, with an average rating of 5.8 out of 10.
External links
- The Salton Sea film trailer