neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Salton Sea
	D.J. Caruso Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Anthony LaPaglia, Peter Sarsgaard, Deborah Kara Unger, Luis Guzman, Glenn Plummer, Adam Goldberg, Meat Loaf Aday, Doug Hutchison 2002		Val Kilmer ("The Saint," "Tombstone") is at his most buff as Danny Parker, an unsavory, tattooed anti-hero looking for absolution, deliverance and revenge in the sometimes muddy, willfully edgy, fairly provocative thriller "The Salton Sea." Since his adversaries are so much sleazier and more villainous than he is, Parker can engender our sympathies as he slithers through the scummy, dangerous world of Southern California's speed-freak subculture and its illegal methamphetamine trade. Kilmer is well suited to the part. He holds up his end, but it's the supporting players who really make this baby happen: Anthony LaPaglia, as a vicious narcotics agent; Peter Sarsgaard, as Danny's slacker buddy Jimmy; Deborah Kara Unger, as a pathetic addict abused by her boyfriend; Luis Guzman, as the abusive boyfriend; Glenn Plummer, as a dangerously tweaked dealer; and, most memorable of all, Vincent D'Onofrio, unrecognizable as the violent, cruel drug kingpin Pooh Bear. Rough and ripping.