Directed by Phillip Noyce
Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. July 27, 2010 4:30 PM
What do Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie have in common?
Well, besides both being major movie stars, having adopted children and staring in a action flick this summer, the actors were both considered for the title role in "Salt". The movie was originally conceived as a vehicle for Mr. Cruise but after deciding the role was too similar to his part in "Mission: Impossible", chose to film "Knight and Day" instead, which apparently, is a complete departure from his Ethan Hunt character.
After the gender flip-flop, CIA agent, Edwin Salt became Evelyn Salt, now played by Jolie, who was preparing to leave the office with her friend and fellow agent, Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) when they are called back. A Russian agent has defected and needs to be questioned. Salt steps in to interrogate this Russian, Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski) who claims that at the upcoming funeral for the U.S. vice-president that the visiting Russian president will be executed by a Russian sleeper agent in the US to cause friction between the two nations. The name of this spy is Evelyn Salt.
Orlov's brain was being scanned during the interrogation, which appears that he is telling the truth. Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an ONCIX agent, is present during this revelation, insisting that Evelyn stay behind to be questioned. She is very concerned about the safety of her husband (August Diehl) and wants to go home first to check on him. Not surprisingly, she's told that will have to wait. While being escorted away, Orlov manages to escape. They place Evelyn in a holding room while they go after the Russian. Salt, who wants to clear her name, is able to use her skill, training and literally, her panties to outmaneuver the CIA to get out of the building.
Now, Salt is on the run and she is an unstoppable, glamazon machine. She is able to leap from one moving truck to another while her make-up stays perfectly in place. She is faster (and smarter) than all of the men of the CIA, police department and Russian agents combined while using guns, grenades and her favorite weapon of choice, her bare hands to take anyone down who stands in her way but still manages to find time to dye her hair. Although, too often she comes across more like a guy in a wig than a real woman but the real question remains, is she really a CIA agent, a Russian spy or something else?
It was a smart move to change the gender of this character because otherwise it would have been an even more predictable action flick. Jolie was perfectly cast, largely because I can't think of another actress who would be even close to being believable in this part. She is capable of displaying a toughness, thoroughly convincing you that she's no one you want to mess with, while still exhibiting a softer side not usually found in this type of movie.
Mr. Noyce, the veteran director of the big budget, big action Harrison Ford vehicles, "Patriot Games"(1992) and "Clear and Present Danger" (1994) and the smaller, "Rabbit-Proof Fence" (2002), is able to take this slight material and distract the audience to make the story seem not so illogical while keeping the action moving and interesting.
"Salt" gives you what you expect from a summer action film, no more and no less. So, if prefer uncomplicated explosions and gunfire with minimal, plausible storytelling, than this is the movie for you. Now that I think about it, perhaps Cruise and Jolie should have switched parts in their prospective summer movies. Cruise would have been far more comfortable in this type of one-man army action movie while Jolie would certainly have had more chemistry with Cameron Diaz than Cruise did in "Knight and Day".
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