Every now and then, a movie slips through the cracks and it’s safe to say that The Salton Sea is one of them. Part crime thriller, part fever dream, it lunges viewers into a world of meth-fueled chaos, crooked cops, and a man stuck between revenge and full-on self-destruction. At the center of it all is Val Kilmer who plays Danny Parker, a man who’s seemingly just another lost soul in a haze of drugs and crime. But as things move along, it becomes clear that the truth is far more complicated. Directed by D.J. Caruso, The Salton Sea offers up everything a great noir should have ranging from double-crosses to a main character drowning in secrets.The Salton Sea also throws in some wildly unexpected moments, like Vincent D’Onofrio’s unhinged drug kingpin Pooh-Bear, who lost his nose to cocaine and now forces people to reenact the JFK assassination for fun. It’s simply one of those films that constantly keeps viewers engaged as the story digs into Danny’s past while simultaneously wrapping itself around his present. Sure, The Salton Sea might have slipped under the radar when it first came out, but it’s the kind of movie that lingers thereafter and not just for the mystery. But it’s simply fascinating how it transforms a tale of revenge into something weird, sadder, and far more compelling than you’d expect.
‘The Salton Sea’ Blends Crime, Comedy, and Psychological Drama in the Weirdest Way

Image via Warner Bros.

Most noir crime thrillers stick to the status quo offering up the usual moody detective, femme fatale, and a big reveal that ties everything together. However, The Salton Sea takes a whole other route. One moment, it gives 100% gritty neo-noir vibes while exploring the story about a man haunted by his past. The next, it’s a dark comedy featuring D’Onofrio orchestrating twisted reenactments purely for his own amusement. But somehow, it all works. Despite all this, The Salton Sea is a revenge story at its core, but it’s wrapped in layers of psychological drama with a tone that sets it apart.

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Take Danny Parker who’s introduced as a trumpet player lost in the drug scene. As the film progresses, it begins to peel back the puzzle of his reality piece by piece. The combination of his grief and double life pile on the emotional weight, right up till it hits viewers with an offbeat moment — like a meth bust set to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. All in all, it’s this unpredictability that keeps things fresh. Even more, Caruso’s direction ensures that no matter how strange things get, they never feel out of place. So, from its hallucinatory drug trip to the brutal betrayal that lies in wait, The Salton Sea feels oddly genuine. At the end of it all, one thing is crystal clear — it’s a crime thriller that takes things beyond just telling a story, it messes with your expectations all the way.
‘The Salton Sea’ Is Proof That Dark Humor and Crime Thrillers Are a Good Combination

For a film about murder, addiction, and betrayal, The Salton Sea has a surprising sense of humor. It isn’t quite the kind of comedy where characters crack jokes or get into goofy hijinks. However, the absurdity of most of the situations sneaks up on you. One of the best examples is centered around Peter Sarsgaard’s character, Jimmy the Finn. He’s Danny Parker’s best friend, but also a soft-hearted man perpetually struggling with addiction, whose dream is to live out his days on a lifeboat. His drug-addled monologues come across as both hilarious and heartbreaking, especially once he starts philosophizing about life wearing nothing but underwear and cowboy boots.
There’s also a scene where a couple of amateur criminals attempt to cook meth while wearing garbage bags as hazmat suits. No doubt it’s as terrible an idea as they come, and it goes about as well as you’d expect. Instead of a tense drug lab moment, audiences get a bumbling disaster that’s borderline slapstick if you overlook the fact that they’re playing with highly explosive chemicals. The intrigue here lies in the fact that The Salton Sea does all this without losing sight of its tragic core. It simply keeps a hold of the upbeat humor to keep the narrative from sinking into pure misery.

The Salton Sea

Release Date

February 2, 2002

Runtime

103 minutes

Director

D. J. Caruso

Writers

Tony Gayton

Producers

Butch Robinson, Eriq La Salle, Frank Darabont, Jim Behnke