Salt
July 23, 2010
Director: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber
Release Date: July 23, 2010
And They Say Salt is Bad for You
Who is Salt? That’s the tagline for Angelina Jolie’s latest vehicle, a spy thriller that is much more effective than I had anticipated.
The story rotates around Evelyn Salt (”Ev” for short), a CIA agent whose specialty is US-Russian relations. One day, a self-proclaimed Russian defective waltzes into CIA headquarters and begins divulging all kinds of sensitive information. 
Long story short, he states that a Russian spy will assassinate the Russian President while he attends the funeral of the US Vice President in New York City. At first, everyone assumes the guy’s a loon who’s “blowin’ smoke,” but just as his cross-examination is about to end he states the name of the assassin: Evelyn Salt.
This, of course, causes Ev’s agency pals to instantly become suspicious, and she’s held for questioning while they try to sort the whole thing out. Ev has dinner plans, though, so she decides to make haste and cuts the interrogation short. This starts a cat and mouse chase through the streets of DC that doesn’t really let up in any measurable way until the credits begin to roll at the film’s conclusion.
There are a number of things that help elevate Salt above a bevy of other spy offerings. For starters, the story is just intelligent (and I mean just) enough to keep audiences engaged for the full 100 minute runtime. And though the movie is admittedly brief, it never feels too short—that is, it moves along at a brisk enough pace so as not to test our patience. It’s a great example of how whittling out all unnecessary elements/subplots—well, almost all—can be a great thing. If a Scorsese picture is Faulknerian in nature, I think it’s fairly safe to say that Noyce has pegged what it is to be Hemingway-esque (though I dare not credit the story with that much mental fortitude).
What’s particularly nice about Salt is that its action sequences are followable and, even more importantly, thrilling. Noyce has chosen not to engage in the frenzied, somewhat erratic directorial style of some contemporary filmmakers who shoot their fight scenes as if they’re choppy music videos. There’s a real sense that Evelyn is someone who is highly trained and shouldn’t be messed with (this is made apparent, for example, when she effortlessly crushes peoples’ throats, creates lethal weapons out of household cleaning items, etc.).
But let’s get back to the plot. Despite having some quantifiable degree of mental aptitude, it still manages to succumb to certain cliches that audiences will be able to anticipate from a mile out. Some may see this as a hindrance, but it throws so many worthwhile “turns” into the plot—a handful of which aren’t that predictable—that when the finale materializes it seems as if we’ve successfully navigated a fairly fluid narrative web and have been rewarded for sticking out some of the more predictable moments.
All-in-all, there’s not much to complain about when it comes to Salt. It’s a solid spy actioner that does its job well, and it might just leave you breathless from time to time. What’s not to like?
out of 5
–Chris Flowers
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.
Check out a trailer for Salt:
