The Salton Sea (2002)

Starring Val Kilmer, Vincent D’Onofrio, Luis Guzman, and Peter Sarsgaard.  Cinematography by Amir M. Mokri. Edited by Jim Page.  Produced by Ken Aguado, Eriq La Salle, Butch Robinson, and Frank Darabont.  Written by Tony Gayton. Directed by D.J. Caruso.

Danny Parker (played by Val Kilmer) is an accomplished jazz musician.  He and his wife (played by Chandra West) end up at the Salton Sea, a landmark in Southern California two hundred and twenty six feet below sea level, where she is brutally murdered.  Danny is overwhelmed with grief and turns to the dangerous world of drug abuse to find solace.

His drug of choice is crystal methamphetamine and he is welcomed into a community of “tweakers” who live every day either getting high or scheming about their next one. To keep himself out of trouble Danny also doubles as a police informant; a shameful but seemingly necessary deed. Along his path he meets Pooh-Bear (played by Vincent D’Onofrio), a dangerous drug dealer that has lost his nose to his cocaine addition, and Colette (played by Deborah Kara Unger), a neighbor in his run down building who appears to be as damaged as he is.  Danny struggles to find a balance between the mourning of his lost wife and the feelings that he is starting to experience for the neighbor across the way.

Screenwriter Tony Gayton, who also wrote 2002’s Murder by Numbers, created a strong and moody story when he assembled The Salton Sea.  It has the ability to jump seamlessly from a tragic tale of lost love to a quirky comedy. It rides the edge of film noir, but its comedy and eventual optimism give it too much life. 

The screenplay was found floating around by producer Ken Aguado who loved it and passed it on to his partner at Humble Journey Films, Eriq La Salle, who was also impressed.  They presented it to D.J. Caruso, another Humble Journey associate, who had worked in the entertainment industry for a few years and was looking for the right project to make his feature film debut.  After reviewing the screenplay Caruso was sure that The Salton Sea was going to be that project.

In 1998 Caruso directed the HBO project Black Cat Run; a film that was written by Frank Darabont. When he and his partners started working on The Salton Sea, Caruso sent Darabont a copy of the script.  Darabont was taken with the story as well. He has said that “the script for The Salton Sea was not like any other script I had read and consequently not really like too many other movies I see. 

It’s defiantly got its own unique texture and that’s rooted in the script.”  Darabont lent his support to the film by joining the production team.

Budget: $18,000,000

Total US Gross: $676,698

Genre: Drama

Runtime: 103 Minutes

US Release Date: 4/26/02

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Awards: none

Tagline: If You're Looking For The Truth, You've Come To The Wrong Place.

Quote: “Sometimes you see the world so clearly… and you know just what to do… and just when to do it… just what you should have done... and when you should have done it…”