Rating: 
Summary: The best film I saw last year.
Review: This is, simply put, a flawless film. Kilmer, who stole Top Gun and should've won the Oscar for his portrayal of Doc Holliday in Tombstone, may have done his finest work here. He's heartbreaking to watch, yet impossible not to. The supporting cast of D'Onofrio, Goldberg, Wong, Sarsgaard, Unger, Guzman and Shirley Knight is nothing short of remarkable. And as for directing chops, where Tarantino has one idea per movie (or is it career?), Caruso has two ideas per scene! The twists and turns in this film just keep coming. Even the soundtrack is superb; Tantric's "Mourning", which plays over the closing credits, is the perfect ending to a perfect gem. See it, and then tell everyone you know who truly loves films to do the same.
Rating:
Summary: Criminally Overlooked
Review: I can't believe some of the negative reviews generated by the critics, the same people who gave the boring, too long, cheesy, silly dialogue and over kill with boring characters Titanic 5 star greatness. How can you give a daring and dazzling character driven movie like this negative remarks, and give god awful seen it all before, cheesy Titanic super great marks, Titanic the king of the box office and this some how went pretty much unnoticed, there is no god. The Salton Sea is a must see movie really great, everything about this movie is top notch, Val Kilmer is great (I'd Like to see Leonardo DiCaprio star in a movie like this, he was awful in Gangs of New York), the directing is spot on, the script is clever even the support is great. Not a single dull moment the whole movie, I watched this movie twice which is a rarity for me. Any how this is a great movie don't listen to the critics who once bashed the great Blade runner, which is now considered the greatest SciFi movie of all time, any way the multi Oscar winning (how?)Titanic has been voted the worst movie of all time in a poll by the BBC.
Rating:
Summary: A Noble Heart and Black Humor
Review: Glad to see most of the reviews are favorable- "The Salton Sea" is one of my favorite movies. Why? The movie tells a special story in a unique way. Danny (AKA Tom) is on a personal mission that takes him into the squalidity of addiction and crime in LA. The story is unfolded in tangental vignettes, hyper-bizarre incidents and vivid flashbacks, and those of you with a keen eye for detail will recognize the logic of how and why the plotline is revealed this way. A lot of people will find some of the characters strange and over-the-top, and some of the incidents shocking, but that is the charm of the movie- never a dull moment.
My favorite aspects deal with the main themes of the movie: the value of true love, evil & hypocrisy, unlikely heroes and gutter saints. A Beautiful Film.
Rating: 
Summary: Vincent D'onofrio at his best.
Review: I gave this film a four because everything about it was great, except Val Kilmer. I can't stand him as an actor, even though he was very good in this role. The story is very interesting and the acting is very believable, but the one actor who stands out is Vincent D'Onofrio. He is absolutely perfect as "Pooh Bear." This character is so intriguing, that I would love to see a movie about the life of "Pooh Bear." D'onofrio upstages everyone. Bottom line: If you like Kilmer, see this film because he is very good. However, D'Onofrio is incredible and if you don't love him already, you will (or should) after you have seen this film. The detachable nose is fabulous.
Rating:
Summary: Weird, grotesque and unpleasant. I thought it was great!
Review: This 2002 film is a rather weird and grotesque story set in the world of drugs. Val Kilmer is cast as a former trumpet player on a downward drug spiral. He's a middleman dealer, a police informant and a speed freak himself. The drug scenes are lurid and explicit. And the violence never stops. It's also a roller coaster ride for the audience, with a complicated plot that finally makes sense. There are also special effects and moments to make me cringe.Vincent D'Onofrio is cast as a demented drug dealer who has lost his nose due to his habit. He's a sadist who boasts about torturing people who have tried to scam him and he puts Val Kilmer through some horrible moments. There's double crossing going on of course, and even triple crossing. This makes the plot rather interesting as our perception of our hero changes as the film moves along. It's all a strange and unpleasant trip but I must give credit to fine performances and excellent and edgy directing. I enjoyed it but do stay away if you're squeamish in any way and don't want to be haunted by nightmarish images. Recommended only for the adventurous few.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Breathtaking
Review: This is my favourite American film of all time. The imagery, acting, soundtrack, all were flawless. It's hard to describe what I found so appealing, you'd really have to see it.
Unlike many drug movies, you'd notice how nothing is glamourised, just strikingly honest. There are real consequences for everyone. The main character (Val Kilmer), although a "tweaker", elicits sympathy as he does what he feels right. Towards the end, I feel he did do what's right. I've never been involved with drug-dealing, but I imagine it would be at least similar to the movie. I'm gonna have to buy it. The DVD, not meth.
Rating:
Summary: A thoughtful, eloquent, surprising tale
Review: The best thing about "The Salton Sea" is that it isn't what one might expect. What starts out as yet another film detailing the aspects of a heavy drug user's life - something like "Blow" or "Trainspotting" or "Requiem for a Dream" - becomes quite something else by the end of the film. Mind you, I don't have any problem with these types of films, and the ones I just mentioned are all quite good in their own right. It bears pointing out, however, that "The Salton Sea" is not trying to be one of those movies, which goes to its credit.
And yet, drug use definitely forms a large aspect of the story of the film. In its depiction of drug use and drug users, it is remarkably balanced. It neither condemns nor glorifies it characters for their addiction, it simply portrays them honestly, as part of a larger story. Most films seem which involve a heavy dose of drug use in their story seem to feel the need to moralize on the subject at some point, but The Salton Sea avoided that particular pitfall. Most likely this is because, as the filmmakers doubtless realized early on, it's not a movie about drug use. Though it has that feeling to it early on, the story slowly turns to the history of the main character, why he is in the situation he finds himself, and what he's doing now that he's there. Through a number of fairly surprising twists and turns, we learn that all is not as it seems, both for him and for those around him. The ending, when it comes, is one of the nicest surprises of the film, even as it is its most heart-wrenching moment. Val Kilmer, who always seems to crop up in the oddest places, surprised me yet again with his lead role in this movie. He was compelling and convincing in all aspects of his portrayal, and his narrating voice throughout the film served as a unifying factor. Though I would have been hard-pressed to imagine him in this sort of role before, I now find it hard to imagine it played as well by anyone but him. Then there's Vincent d'Onofrio, who seems to have no end to his versatility. The first time I saw him was in "Strange Days," as one of the corrupt policemen in that movie. I remember how he, without much help from makeup or effects, really scared me by the end of that film. These days, he shows up in many diverse roles, from a good cop in "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" to a psycho freak in "The Cell" to Hunter Thompson's outrageous cohort Lazlo in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." Even with all of this in mind, d'Onofrio's role in "The Salton Sea" is perhaps his strangest yet. As a drug dealer who frequently samples his own product, and has suffered obvious damage to his nose as a result, d'Onofrio employs a number of disturbing quirks and idiosyncrasies in his character that make him almost unrecognizable. I had to wait until the end of the film, when I saw the credits, to be sure that it was him. A talented actor in almost anything, this is probably his most disturbing role to date, putting me in mind of Gary Oldman's part in "Léon" - a high compliment, since I consider that to be one of Oldman's standout roles. A note on the music for the film: it is yet another example of why I've become such a huge follower of Thomas Newman's scores in a relatively short time. A composer of rare talent, Newman seems to be, like a chameleon, capable of suiting his work perfectly to almost any type of story. From the swelling, moody strings of "The Shawshank Redemption" to the quiet modern sensibility of "American Beauty" to the classic sweeping drama of "Meet Joe Black," Newman's versatility as a composer seems almost limitless, and yet his scores are almost universally enjoyable. "The Salton Sea" is no exception to this rule. Newman's music establishes the film's identity, and changes suitably as the story changes. Complex themes and subtle variations highlight the score throughout, and yet never distracts the viewer from the story itself. Unlike John Williams or similar composers, Newman never feels the need to announce his music's presence. Rather, it complements the film and enhances the overall experience. From the contemporary stylings of the early part of the film to the softer, heartbreaking strains of its climax, Newman's score for "The Salton Sea" remains one of the high points of the film throughout. I think what I appreciated most about "The Salton Sea" was that it defied expectations in many ways. From a perspective of acting, or story, or character development, nothing turns out quite the way I thought it would at the beginning of the film. The performances, in many ways, are not what we expect from the actors chosen for the movie. It doesn't moralize or pass judgment on its subject matter, but lets the audience draw their own conclusions about some pretty controversial things, from drug use to the concept of revenge. While I wouldn't say that it's a film that I'll want to watch over and over again, it's definitely a movie that's worth seeing, probably more than once.
Rating: 
Summary: The Salton Sea pays off
Review: seeing Val Kilmer as a jumkie slash trumpet player is always cool. He can be Batman and The Saint and still play messed up characters. I was sorta bored for like the first hour then it sorta put the pieces into place, oh he's like pretending to be a tweekerjunkieguy in order to evenge his wifes death. The shootout at the end and the rest is great and it picks up the movie right along. Though Vincent D'Onofrio as a man who has no nose, is sorta stupid and his charcter is and his charcter shouldnt be in this movie. All in all its a great revenge movie. Kilmer has a lot of cool fake tatoos on his back
Rating:
Summary: Good script, great production
Review: "The Salton Sea" is one of those movies that keep you guessing 'til the end. Val Kilmer's portrayal of a lost soul on a mission that you don't at first understand is compelling, and the endless stream of strange characters that he encounters on his journey through a druggie Hell keep you wondering "what's next?" I gave this five stars when it's really about a 4.5, because the production is great and the moody score really adds to the whole experience. If you enjoyed Pulp Fiction, True Romanc, Nurse Betty or Snatch, you'll like this one too!
Rating:
Summary: Eye Candy
Review: The Salton Sea has terrific visual style, a pretty great soundtrack, and decent acting. The story is interesting enough. 3 stars instead of 4 because: The voiceovers are too often too much, killing the movie with overexposure (as opposed to letting the movie speak for itself). Val Kilmer, certainly a capable actor, and his effete lispy voice, combined with poorly written voiceovers, really put an additional burden on our enjoyment of The Salton Sea. As with the voiceovers, sometimes the style goes into overkill - never really visually (although the many great shots are occasionally comingled with the not-so-great, dampening the effect), but with needless tarrantino-lite/parodyish-isms (the planned celebrity sh*te heist being one). Rent it, but don't buy it unless you can repeatedly cherish eye candy (sadly, no soundtrack-only audio).
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