REVIEW: ‘Salt’

The world of entertainment has asked us many questions.

“Who was that masked man?”
“Who is Harry Crumb?”
“What is the Matrix?”
“Dude, where’s my car?”

And now, it presents us with one more question: “Who is Salt?” It’s a good question and not a bad movie either.

“Salt” or more accurately, Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA operative. When we first see her – the movie says two years ago, but a clock later in the movie says 2011 – she’s getting the crap kicked out of her in a North Korean prison. I could only imagine that Cedric the Entertainer’s spy character from “The Cleaner” was in the cell next to her

Hey, I can dream.

Just when it looks like this might be the world’s shortest spy movie, in swoops in diplomacy and Salt gets released in a prisoner exchange that was instigated by her boyfriend/hubby/whatever, Mike (August Diehl) and led by her boss, Ted (Liev Schreiber). Fast forward to the present (or next year depending on if you really paid that much attention to the clock), Salt is back on the job and preparing to celebrate an anniversary with Mike when a Russian defector (Daniel Olbrychski) comes in. Salt, of course, is tasked with interrogating him. He warns them of a Russian sleeper agent who is about to be activated and tasked with killing the Russian president. And if you’ve seen the trailers, you already know what’s coming: the sleeper agent is Evelyn Salt. Dun-dun-DUUUUUUN!!!!

If you’ve watched even a handful of spy movies and have at least a couple of brain cells to rub together, you can probably suss out a lot of what happens in “Salt”. However, in a summer season where many of the big movies have been disappointments, “Salt” entertains and doesn’t leave you feeling cheated. It’s not a landmark moment in movie making. It just does what it’s supposed to do. The chases are gripping. The twists are twisty and Angelina Jolie still has some of the best lips in the solar system. It’s got a solid foundation with its trio of stars. Jolie seems to rapidly being typecast as the quintessential modern Mata Hari. Likewise, Liev Schreiber has found his niche as playing middle management types or, in this case, middle spy boss kind of guy. Anchoring the final corner of this triumvirate is Chiwetel Ejiofor, who in my opinion could read bar codes and make it entertaining, as an officious counter-intelligence officer.

Phillip Noyce puts the chops he learned directing “Patriot Games”, “Clear and Present Danger” and “The Saint” to good use here. “Salt” is exactly what you want in a summer action/spy/thriller. Working from a script by Kurt Wimmer – who also penned “Law Abiding Citizen” – Noyce gives us a slick little showcase for Jolie and company, weaving backstory, exposition and action into a neat little bundle without feeling slow or draggy. I think its greatest strength is that it really has something for everyone. There’s action, adventure and suspense for the guys and a softer, retrospective and romantic side, thanks to Jolie, that you probably wouldn’t have had if someone like Tom Cruise had taken the roll. It’s an effective one-two punch that makes this a nice date night movie.

Still, as positive as all this sounds, I still had one gripe about the proceedings: The ending. Once you start getting into the endgame, it’s not hard to see where this is going to go. My beef with it was how long it took to get there and the overall feel of it. That last five or so minutes felt like the end of a television series pilot movie. Overall though, it’s only a small problem with a good overall movie.

“Salt” is good, solid summer fare. It won’t make you forget the James Bonds or Jason Bournes, but it will help you put some of this summer’s crapfests behind you. It will certainly help you answer the question, “What movie do you want to see tonight?”