Review of The Salton Sea (2002) by Megan C — 21 Jun 2007

This movie is so fascinating.

It opens up with the hero, played by Val Kilmer, playing a trumpet in a burning room, inviting you to decide who he is. The prodigal son? Judas Iscariot(sp?)? The prince of Denmark? And his opening words really haunted me throughout the film. I have sort of an obsession with american movies that reference shakespear. Anyways, as the movie plays out, you see that the hero, like Hamlet, is incapable of action. He watches his wife be murdered, and doesn't do anything. Even his entire plan of revenge is so motionless, so unlike revenge thrillers we have come to expect. Its interesting that the hero seems more concerened with ratting on his tweaker friends than the fact that he let his wife die.

His tweaker friends are in fact delightful- Peter Saarsgard plays his worshiping, mullet-haired best buddy, who even gets a tatoo of his image. And Vincent D'onfrio is Pooh bear, the drug world villian- deliciously bizarre.

Overall, I'm not sure if the film suceeds. At some moments I am unsure if I am looking at weak writing, or carefully constructed character developement. No matter what, its a visually stunning, bizarre look into the drug world, one that you simple much watch several times to truly understand.