The Salton Sea? (1 Viewer)

[John Rockwell]

What happened to this movie? If you don't know what I'm talking about, a while ago I heard some good things about this movie "The Salton Sea", starring Val Kilmer and Vincent D'Onofrio. It was said to be released March 1st, now I don't see anyone listing it. I checked several sites, including upcomingmovies.com and found no info. Anyone know whats up?

 

[Shawn C]

Release Date: April 19th, 2002 (limited/moderate release; moved back several weeks from March 1st, 2002; originally scheduled for November 2nd, 2001, then, September, 2001, and then, December 25th, 2001)
http://www.upcomingmovies.com/saltonsea.html

 

[todd stone]

There's been a thread on this, it's coming out shortly.

 

[ChrisMatson]

I am looking forward to The Salton Sea. It opens in limited release this weekend, although I can't find out where exactly--wide on May 17. Early reviews have been good. 86% at Rottentomatoes.
Peter Travers said:

...it's Vincent D'Onofrio as Pooh-Bear, a drug lord who's snorted so much meth his nose had to be replaced by a plastic one, who kicks ass. With Pooh-Bear, who lets his pet badger nibble on the dicks of his enemies and re-enacts the JFK assassination with pigeons, D'Onofrio creates a rock-the-house villain. He's the fire in the belly of this cool groove of a movie.

Sounds good to me!
Here's a link to the Quicktime Trailer if anyone is interested.
-Chris

 

[Michael Reuben]

It's really a shame that this little pulp-noir gem is being released at just the right time to be buried by Spider-Man and Star Wars II. It's the best work Val Kilmer has done in years, and the supporting cast is superb, especially D'Onofrio. It'll probably have to wait for video to be discovered, but if you have the chance, it's well worth seeing in a theater. Beautiful, stylized cinematography, and you'll never be bored.

I was planning to write a longer review, but I doubt I'll have time this week. Just see it!

M.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Early reviews have been good. 86% at Rottentomatoes.

I have been keeping an eye on this one and the numbers hasn't changed - 33% cream of the crop and 64% overall. I was all psyched up for this one until I saw these ratings.

Michael, I hope you are right as I might get to catch this one in the coming weeks.

~Edwin

 

[Michael Reuben]

Aww, Edwin, you know there's no such thing as a "right" review. My tastes run the gamut from pure exercises in style to intense character-driven fare shot very simply. Salton Sea is firmly at the "style" end of the spectrum. But I'd say the same thing about Pulp Fiction, which it resembles in many respects.
M.

 

[todd stone]

I am a huge val kilmer fan and this one looks to be terrific. can't wait!

 

[todd stone]

any reviews on this yet???

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I don't remember whether Ebert thumb-upped the film or not but he also had an extremely positive review for D'Onofrio's performance.

 

[todd stone]

Ebert gave it a thumbs up. Both he AND roeper did.

On a side note, such a bad time to release this film with spiderman and star wars. It's getting overlooked.

 

[BrianKM]

I saw this one about three weeks ago and I was mostly left with a ho-hum feeling. D'Onofrio is awesome as usual and there is a cool Fincheresque steadicam sequence, but I could never buy Kilmer as a speed freak and some of the plot contrivances were downright annoying. Debra Kara Unger (from The Game) is in this one too.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

I think Michael Reuben is right on this one.
But only up to a certain extent. I agree about the strong performances in this film from a very fine ensemble cast including Vincent D’Onofrio as Pooh-Bear. He makes his character really scary and evil. But this film noir is a character driven vehicle powered by a very strong performance by Val Kilmer.
However, The Salton Sea is not without its faults. There is one aspect to the story, which did not feel natural. It is as if that we are forced to accept one too many facets to Val Kilmer’s character - from a trumpet playing common person to a speed freak to at least two or three other transformations that borders on spoiling the film if mentioned further.
I guess my reaction is a mixed one. It is definitely nice to see David Caruso’s potential as a feature film director. The film kept me interested in the fate of the characters. However, its ending is another matter. From the very first frame, the film sets itself as an edgy, bold and one that is willing to take risks. The ending, however, did not stay true in form to that tone. It comes at a point in the film when the voice-over narration by the main character asks the question, “Wait a minute. What the hell is this?”
Those who have seen the film will know what I’m talking about. Some audiences like myself will definitely ask: Really, what the hell was that? It is as if the ending was tacked on as a result of test audiences disliking a much darker ending, which would have been a better fit for this type of a film.
There is also a subplot concerning a love interest for Val Kilmer’s character that when analyzed and taken into context within the film's bigger plot, did not make any sense at all.
Even with its faults, the film is still worth a look if only for its performances, atmosphere and style. The Salton Sea aims high but remains grounded from being a better film due to an incomprehensible storyline and a few unconvincing plot turns.
~Edwin

 

[Michael Reuben]

Glad you liked it, Edwin. FWIW, I agree that the plotting has some problems. (You're 100% right about the "love interest" subplot.) But while I too would have preferred a better resolution, it's still a great ride.

It is definitely nice to see David Caruso’s potential as a feature film director.

Just to prevent any confusion: The director goes by the name "D.J. Caruso" and should not be confused with the actor who first caught everyone's attention in NYPD Blue. The Caruso who directed Salton Sea has an extensive background in television and second-unit work on feature films, but no acting credits.

M.

 

[LarryDavenport]

I saw The Salton Sea the same day I saw Insomnia and immediately put both films on my to buy list. I'm glad I saw it because (like Brain Candy) it only played in Seattle for two weeks.

I like how the film kept redefining itself, going from one genre to another, but like Ebert I was a little dissapointed in the end. It reminded me of how I felt about Desperado (see second spolier below). Had it ended a couple minutes earlier

when Val was floating through the hallway


I think the ending would have been more open to interpretation and more powerful.

I always thought Desperado should have ended when it faded to white. When the film returns from white, and we see all the characters we care about are still alive, I felt cheated out of the gun battle we never saw.

 

[Edwin Pereyra]

Just getting some awareness on this film's DVD release.

~Edwin

 

[L. Anton Dencklau]

After watching this, I can't fathom why Warner did such a limited theatrical release. An 18m movie with lots of recognizable actors..there's even a happy ending..sort of
. Was this a tax write off? Did Val Kilmer piss somebody off at the studio?

There's got to be more behind this decision that hasn't been made public. (unless of course, the powers that be are simply stupid. You send City By the Sea wide, but not this?) They left money on table....

 

[Jason Seaver]

After watching this, I can't fathom why Warner did such a limited theatrical release.

Really? I saw it during its theatrical release (it only played the Boston area for one week, at an alternative-y venue), and I personally wondered why Warner Brothers made the movie. Not just because it stinks, but because it really doesn't fit the WB profile. Warner makes and markets star-driven mainstream fare well, but have time and again had a hard time figuring out what to do with something as strange as The Salton Sea.

If AOL/Time Warner did the corporate synergy thing better, this would have been moved over to New Line, which has marketing people with practice in handling something like this. But, honestly, this is not going to be a movie that gets a big release - suburban/small-city exhibitors would take one look at the trailer and have a hard time justifying a two-week booking for a movie with such niche appeal.

As to "recognizable actors"... We're looking at Kilmer (who can't really open a movie himself any more) and two character actors in Deborah Unger and Vincent D'onofrio who, in general, are more talked about after the movie than they are a reason for people coming in.

 

[Richard Travale]

As to "recognizable actors"... We're looking at Kilmer (who can't really open a movie himself any more) and two character actors in Deborah Unger and Vincent D'onofrio

We can't leave out the great Luis Guzman or Adam Goldberg. Not to mention up and comer Peter Sarsgaard.

 

[Jason Seaver]

And while I love the heck out of several of them, how many people are going to see a movie because they are in it. The point being, it's not like Warner buried a movie with the cast of Ocean's 11 here; the good cast wasn't going to give it a big opening weekend.