Big Screen Peter: Salt

Editor’s note: Peter Lewis has agreed to use whatever it is you call his writing style to provide some measure of analysis to those folks who still go to a theater to see a movie. Next week, Peter will review Charlie St. Cloud, a mystical romance starring Zac Efron, Kim Basinger, and Amanda Crew. The film is adapted from a novel by Ben Sherwood.

review by Peter Lewis

Contrary to what you’ve heard, the closest way to a man’s heart is not through his stomach, but through the big screen. While every man may have different tastes, most possess a soft spot in their heart for things that go “boom” in the artificial night of the cineplex.

If one were to equate a good action film with a well cooked ribeye — hearty and filling — then one must consider a well constructed espionage thriller, combining action with the right amount of intellectual stimulation, a blue-cheese stuffed filet — hearty, but containing subtle nuances throughout.

That’s the goal at least. Very few films attain those rarefied heights, for every classic like “The Day of the Jackal” there is a dud like “The Recruit.” Most of the genre inhabits a large swathe of middle ground, neither great nor poor. And for all of its novel outlandishness and plot twists, “Salt” inhabits that middle ground.

The film stars Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a highly trained CIA operative. Her world is turned upside down when a purported Soviet spy turns himself in, ready to defect. He regales Salt with a tale of Russian subterfuge — rather apropos given the recent turn of events — that ends with him revealing the identity of an agent who will commit a political assassination that will spark the downfall of America. That agent? One Evelyn Salt.

What unfolds following this revelation is a high-speed free-for-all. Playing friend and boss to Salt is Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber). A hardened intelligence agent, Winter initially aids Salt as she struggles to ascertain the whereabouts of her husband while discounting the accusation of her status as a Russian sleeper-spy. Playing foil to this is Agent Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a skeptical counter-intelligence officer. As the story progresses, the intentions of Salt, Winter, and Peabody shift, creating an intricate web of exhilarating confusion.

This creation of spy-related confusion is a strong suit of Phillip Noyce, Salt’s director.  From more straight-forward, action-oriented films like “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger” to nuanced spy dramas like “The Quiet American,” Noyce knows his way around the espionage game … at least the Hollywood version of it. He lets this fast-paced confusion run free, never once trying to harness it. What explanations the audience gets are subtle, gentle flashbacks to the past. These toss the fury of the present into even greater contrast.

With Noyce at the helm, Jolie spends much of the film careening around the eastern seaboard with reckless abandon. Which is nothing really new for Jolie. She first catapulted herself to national prominence as Lara Croft, an ass-kicking archaeologist with a penchant for adventure.

With several action films on her resume, she’s not only a believable choice as a purported action hero for a cynical (largely) male audience, but a rather fetching one too boot. In theory, she is the perfect balance of authenticity and allure on the big screen. Unfortunately, she seems frail throughout SALT.  And this makes the utter scale of her on screen accomplishments seem, well, slightly preposterous.

Unlike films such as last week’s “Inception” or even fantasies such as “Pan’s Labyrinth,” there is no real order to the excessiveness. Instead, illogic runs rampant throughout the film. Even with the recent news of Russian sleeper cells, one can’t help but discount the possibility of the scenario posited in “Salt.” It takes too much cynicism.

There are, of course, inherent rewards to such illogical constructions. The movie is a roller-coaster ride: it’s not about a constructive experience inasmuch it is about simple enjoyment. In that perspective, “Salt” is a success. One is able to sit quietly in the dark and suspend belief as far-fetched scenarios — wholly rooted in a dystopian reality — unfold on a giant screen.

• Salt is playing at the Carmike 14 and the Malco Cinema 12 in Fort Smith, the Malco Van Buren Cinema and the Poteau Theatre. Link here for time and ticket info.

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