This opens like in a film noir, with a narrator in his last moments musing on who he really is, the house around him is on fire and he's playing the trumpet. We swoop into him to find where it all went awry and he lost himself.Promising for a while, so long as we have no safe footing in solid reality and instead free fall through selves, acquiring narrative fabrics in our fall through stories. We see a drug addict, tattooed and blitzed out of his mind. A police informant. A trumpet player. An unhappy man who comes back to the same seedy apartment.I don't mind that we have the snappy cadence of Snatch or Goodfellas here and there and quirky bad guys. This really could have been something if we were left to soak up edges of shifting self and story - hallucinated by the druggie? remembered? an informant's remorse? - as we made our way to a remote cabin for a drug deal that may have been orchestrated as part of one or more of these lives.They didn't allow us to float here. Eventually it becomes like Memento, where after a few surprises we settle on a real story, we get a flashback that explains. It becomes mechanical, a case of coming up with what happened, so when in the end, it tries to wonder about who really is this man, and what of all this was true, it comes across as an unimaginative guy musing about the wonders of imagination. The whole point is that even the formerly happy life that was snatched from him should float like all the others, perhaps a self that he comes back to to make his way through the rest. Lynch would know just how, Ruiz.A more imaginative mind here would have also made use of Kilmer's presence as formerly happy guy who has bottomed out and now inhabits a limbo where acting selves struggle within anxious stories to get out of them. But that would require the same untethered shifting.Noir Meter: 2/4 | Neo-noir or post noir? Post

The Salton Sea is directed by D. J. Caruso and written by Tony Gayton. It stars Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Peter Sarsgard, Doug Hutchinson, Anthony LaPaglia, Debora Kara Unger, Adam Goldberg and Luis Guzmán. Music is scored by Thomas Newman and cinematography by Amir Mokri.Danny Parker (Kilmer) is hanging out with a bunch of methamphetamine users, apparently in an effort to numb the pain of his one time life that saw his wife murdered. Or is he? The word of mouth for it was strong, but no sooner did it hit cinemas than it disappeared off the face of the earth. However, the cult cinema world is often a vibrant place to lurk, enter there and you find The Salton Sea, a wonderfully tricksy and off beat neo-noir awash with misery, revenge, redemption and odd ball characters that are either stuck in purgatory, or heading to nowhereville.Protagonist Danny Parker leads the film, a man whose identity is fractured after being dealt a blow from the hands of fate, very much in limbo mentally, he none the less has goals to achieve, nothing is never quite as it seems until director Caruso wants us in on the side-shifts. Danny is often in the company of danger and weird characters, from a hopped up harpoon wielding loon, to a no nose psycho (too much meth up the nose will make you lose it kids), via dirty cops and meth heads, it's a world of unease, the twisty plot drawing the viewer in with a kinky smile on its face.Caruso also pulls off the neat trick of placing humour in this off kilter world without hurting the dramatic harshness of the thematics. There's a quite brilliant sequence that shows a botched crime being attempted by the meth head crew, this we watch at the same time as they discuss about actually pulling the crime off. That it involves a stool sample from Bob Hope should tell you all you need to know about the intelligence of the wannabe perps! Caruso's camera is fluid and he uses certain neo-noir visual tricks of the trade as well (time lapses etc), and he also has a knack for varying the mood without avertying the slowly bubbling to the surface pace that the story requires.Kilmer is superb, perfectly low-key, there is no need for rage, the yearning for revenge and redemption, for identity, is brought out via calmly delivered dialect, and it's very affecting. D'Onofrio as Pooh Bear, the afore mentioned no nose fella, steals the movie with another of his off the planet nut-jobs. Elsewhere, Sarsgard is as appealing as he has ever been as Danny's stoner best mate, Hutchinson and LaPaglia cut fine figures as dirty cops, while Guzmán and Danny Trejo leave an impressively grungy mark. The only disappointment is the lack of screen time for Kara Unger, a fine actress, she is playing what turns out to be a critical femme fatale role, but really we needed more of her. It's a rare misstep in an otherwise cracking neo-noir that is highly recommended to fans of similarly devilishly fun pictures. 8.5/10

The Salton Sea is utterly fantastic. It's amazing it took me this long to watch it, it's an instant classic.What makes the movie so fantastic is the amount of content and the variety of said content that is displayed. It's gritty, yet intellectual. Slow, yet paced perfectly. The story unravels slowly, yet the story happens to fast. I think it's safe to say, that the complexity of this movie can not be understated. What you are getting here is the total package. From the gorgeous delivery and beautiful cinematography, to the intricate details from the culmination of the plot. The thought engrossing script, and the perfectly acted epic story tells the tale of redemption, revenge, heartbreak, sorrow, loss, and glory. Val Kilmer delivers his best roll of his entire life. This movie will be relevant for the next 100 years. Do yourself a favor, and add this to your must watch list.

I am not a pro reviewer nor did I ever hear of this film until 3 days ago when it was on Showtime. I was enthralled in this film. Constant surprises, and the story that evolved around it. The actors and actresses all were so enthralled in their parts. The vivid scenery and usage of all else involved truly made me enjoy this film. I would like to just say that I am not a great writer as shown here. nut i wanted to tell anyone that is thinking about watching this movie to watch it. finally when I noticed the film had a budget of 18 mil and grossed 754k I was stunned. Who didn't understand how to promote an excellent movie? I never heard of it until the other day. It's funny how someone can make an excellent movie as shown by the reviews here and completely mess up the marketing. Watch this movie. It will not disappoint.