The Salton Sea (2002)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 85
Fresh: 53 | Rotten: 32
A slick Tarantino-inspired movie that is not for everyone.
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Critic Reviews: 27
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 12
A slick Tarantino-inspired movie that is not for everyone.
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Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 20,785
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Movie Info
The feature film debut of producer and TV director D.J. Caruso, this pulpy noir mystery is a dark tale of redemption set among southern California crystal methamphetamine "tweakers." Val Kilmer stars as Danny Parker, a former trumpet player who has become a tattooed speed freak living in a cesspool of murderous dealers and hardcore addicts near the desert lake of the title. Danny's fall from grace is the result of a hidden agenda, however -- he's seeking answers about the murder of his beloved
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Cast
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Val Kilmer
Danny Parker -
Vincent D'Onofrio
Pooh Bear -
Adam Goldberg
Kujo -
Doug Hutchison
Morgan Tanner -
Shirley Knight
Nancy Plummer -
Anthony LaPaglia
Garcetti -
Meat Loaf
Bo -
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Deborah Kara Unger
Colette -
Chandra West
Liz -
B.D. Wong
Bubba -
R. Lee Ermey
Verne Plummer -
Luis Guzman
Quincey -
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Peter Sarsgaard
Jimmy the Fin -
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Josh Todd
Big Bill
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The Salton Sea Trailer & Photos
All Critics (90) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (34) | DVD (18)
Repellent yet intriguing, brutal yet funny, wicked yet strangely compassionate, The Salton Sea is more about mixing genres and styles than illuminating a credible reality.
Top CriticSacrificing content for style, Caruso gives us a lot to look at but little to ponder.
For what it is, it's well-done -- a stylized-beyond-reality derivation of Natural Born Killers, perhaps. Or a more gonzo version of Go or Blow. But the heart has been stylized out of it.
If there's no art here, it's still a good yarn -- which is nothing to sneeze at these days.
It has the ability to offend and put off everyone, but it holds you with its outrageousness.
A thriller with an edge -- which is to say that it doesn't follow the stale, standard, connect-the-dots storyline which has become commonplace in movies that explore the seamy underbelly of the criminal world.
The overall voyage on The Salton Sea is an uneasy one hampered by a confusing story that admits out loud it doesn't know where it's going.
interesting
Com boas atuações de Kilmer e D'Onofrio, o filme tem um roteiro razoável, mas sem foco. Salva-se graças ao interessante personagem principal.
Marked by an ambitious style and solid performances, but hampered by a story that buries its primary focus until late in the game.
Is authenticity too much to ask? It's not as if the various drug subcultures don't have enough humor and tragedy built in that you need to take a detour into Fantasyland.
It's a sort of rollercoaster ride through the salvaged wreckage of a hundred similar movies.
Lo lamento, pero este mar no me atrapó como para creerle mucho. Una cinta más, regular y nunca tan buena como el director quiere hacerla parecer, presuntuosa y pasajera...
The result is mesmerizing -- filled with menace and squalor.
...[Vincent D'Onofrio's] almost insanely entertaining performance essentially takes the film to an entirely different level...
There's something fundamental missing from this story: something or someone to care about.
...(it) never fully recovers from its dismal beginning, and it ends in a place I had hoped it wouldn't go.
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Latest News on The Salton Sea
June 7, 2007:
Has Fox Chosen a "Wolverine" Director?According to one source, the studio has the "Wolverine" director's job down to a lead...
March 13, 2006:
Shia LaBeouf Will Star In DreamWorks' "Disturbia"Per the Hollywood Reporter, Shia LaBeouf ("The Greatest Game Ever Played") will star in...
January 27, 2006:
Caruso to Helm Spielberg's "Disturbia"According to Variety, director D.J. Caruso ("Two for the Money," "The Salton...
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Like "Drive," this film has a lot of toughness and violence, but also an immense amount of heart -- and some moments of dazzling, jazzy style.
Summarizing the plot runs the risk of spoiling the many surprises that the story contains. So I'll just say that the main character (Kilmer) is a loving, easy-going jazz musician who stumbles into a den of vipers and has to find the wherewithal to defend himself against their depredations. It's a rare treat to find a thriller (or any movie, really) built around a protagonist who's a musician.
The weaknesses lie in the film's editing. It's just a bit too languid too often. Also, the central tragedy at the center of the plot is presented in a gauzy, sentimental way, giving this dark film an almost sugary center. This central tragedy also struck me as too much like a hackneyed plot device. It just felt a bit too conventional.
But "Salton Sea" is definitely worth your time and deserves something of a cult following. I keep hearing D'Onofrio's meth-fueled pig sounds somewhere in my head. I can't make it stop. I also keep hearing the sound of the beautiful jazz trumpet that the main character plays as his home burns around him. Bravo to the whole cast and to director D.J. Caruso ("Taking Lives," "Disturbia").