Boobie Tassels For Buddha

The Salton Sea(2002)
starring Val Kilmer

One of my favorite movies of all time. And that's saying a lot. I grew up enjoying old detective stories. The problem with most of the new Detective flicks is that they try way too hard to be noir, failing to realize that you shouldn't have to try. It should be subtle, not using rediculous dialogue, and internal monologue to beat you in the face with noir (Brick is a good example of that. terrible).
This movie is the exact opposite. It has the feeling of an old Detective story without being in your face.
It starts out with Val Kilmer as junkie Danny Parker, hanging out with speed freaks, and informing on other junkies to two narcotics detectives. He lives in a dump, and seems to have a life that's going nowhere. But like any good mystery nothing is as it seems.
The story goes back and forth through flashbacks to reveal the mystery of what happened at the Salton sea, and how Danny got to where he is. Tragedy landed him playing the part of a junkie, but he's there for a reason. Everything he does he does ultimately for justice.
He plays both sides of the law to solve the crime that has taken over his life. He's never who he appears to be, and you quickly find out that he's always in control. I can't say much about the plot without giving it away. Half the fun of the movie is the surprise of finding out whats really going on.
There are some great performances in The Salton Sea, including Vincent D'Onofrio as Pooh bear, a drug dealer who's put so much meth up his nose that he no longer has one, a rediculous plastic one taking its place. He's a ruthless criminal, but he has some pretty funny scenes.
Then there's Peter Sarsgaard (who you might remember from Garden State) playing Jimmy, a fellow junkie and Danny Parker's only real friend. He's one of those characters that you can't help but feel sorry for. Danny's playing everyone through the whole movie but Jimmy is a sweet genuine kid who would do anything for his friend and just got mixed up in the wrong scene. One of the best exchanges between the two is when he shows Danny that in honor of their friendship he got a tattoo of his face on his arm. He didn't have a picture of Kilmer's character so he described him to the tattoo artist from memory.
It's funny, it's sad, its entertaining and engrossing. And I know a certain someone doesn't like sad stories, so to you, I'll say it all works out in the end. It's in my top five of the last twenty years. watch it.


~Quantum