Salt

I had the privilege of spending last weekend in rural Nebraska. I was worried that the four horse town I was staying in would prevent me from watching your selection, Salt, but to my pleasant surprise my parents and I came across the Eagle Theater, a four screen movie theater that looked to date back to at least the fifties. Tickets were six dollars, and we got two bottles of water, a small popcorn, a box of junior mints and a bag of Reeses Pieces for eight. Talk about culture shock. The theater itself was cozy, art-deco inspired, and had very nice seats. I actually got to look upwards at the screen, which I love but can only do from the front row around these parts. So all and all, even before the movie began this was my most enjoyable and surprising excursion to the cinema yet this summer. I might have to trek to the Eagle every weekend.



As for the film itself, Salt didn't disappoint, although considering I did not go in to the theater with very high expectations I should elaborate.

Let me just say first off that it is refreshing to finally see a film like this centered around a strong female lead. Angelina Jolie plays her role with an unnerving confidence, while also portraying an inner vulnerability. Roles such as this, double agents or double-double agents or whatever, are always tricky, when you have to convey something to the audience while concealing it from the other characters. Difficult stuff, but something Salt pulls off admirably well. So major points for having a girl up there, kicking ass.

Unfortunately, the film as a whole is not a vehicle worthy of Jolie's talents. Instead of really going in a different direction with the female spy angle, it seems copied and pasted into the same spy flick formula from the Bourne films, Die Hard, and many others. Jolie's Evelyn Salt is desexualized to the point where it is not out of the realm of possibility to imagine the entire film with a man in the role instead. In fact, this is exactly how the project came about. Tom Cruise stepped out, Jolie came in, and the filmmakers thought that was enough. Well, it keeps the film above the rest of the schlocky action flicks of recent years, but only barely. For the little amount that Salt is unusual for having a female lead, it is very much cliched in every other aspect.

And the worst cliche of all is implausibility. Salt could have been such a smart movie, but instead it devolves into some of the usual tricks, plus inventing some of its own.

Among the "wow really?" eye rolling moments: Jolie emptying an assault rifle into a three foot thick wall to drill through it to a lock release mechanism, Jolie surviving and walking away uninjured from a forty foot fall inside a police car, and the best of all, moments after a man says, "once this door is shut, God himself couldn't get through", a swat team uses a blow torch to easily get through it. Bad, bad ,writing.

Salt at least kept me entertained though. The entire film is literally action packed, essentially an hour long chase scene with the occasional assassination thrown in. Jolie, despite looking like Kate Moss, manages to savagely beat down every body-armored 230 pound SWAT officer in her path. The film's story provides adequate twists and turns, enough to keep even me guessing until the end an ending which naturally sets up the inevitable Salt franchise. Lets only hope that the filmmakers in charge can do more with Salt's feminine side next time around; that would have been much more interesting than Bourne with breasts.


Attendance: 2/5
Crazy Fan Boy Factor: 0/5
Crowd Response: 2/5

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Production Value: 4/5
Action: 4/5
Acting Performances: 4/5
Implausibility: 5/5, too high to ignore.

Overall: 6/10