Remembering My Favorite Val Kilmer Movie
RIP to the one of a kind, Val Kilmer.
The Salton Sea (2002)
Directed by D.J Caruso
Written by Tony Gayton
Starring Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg, Luis Guzman, Peter Sarsgard
Release Date April 26th, 2002
Published Apil 2nd 2025
On April 1st, 2025, Val Kilmer passed away. Kilmer was a one of a kind actor and movie star. He was controversial, sometimes hard to work with, and a diva before that word was ever applied to a male actor. He was mercurial and odd but also wildly unique, passionate, and always a singular performer. He had his own, deeply committed, vision of his characters and this energy has worked to elevate bad movies while deepening the resonance of great movies. My personal favorite Val Kilmer movie however, is not one that most people remember, the funky 2002 neo-noir thriller, The Salton Sea.
Stories about Val Kilmer's attitude and ego have clouded such varied productions as The Doors, Batman Forever, and Mission To Mars. It's been reported that on the set of Mission To Mars Kilmer and co-star Tom Sizemore actually came to blows. No matter what is said about Kilmer's attitude, his talent is undeniable, even though his ability to choose good material is questionable (At First Sight, The Saint). But when he does get good material, Kilmer is as good as anyone working. In the thriller The Salton Sea, Kilmer had excellent material and he is more than equal to it.
Directed by DJ Caruso, in his first directorial effort, The Salton Sea at first stars Kilmer as our unnamed narrator. Sitting in a burning hotel room holding a trumpet and surrounded by flaming dollar bills, we get a sense of an unfolding noir, but as the narrator leads into his story we get so much more. As our narrator explains he isn't sure who he really is. At one point he was Tom Van Allen, a jazz musician weeks away from marrying the girl of his dreams, Liz (Chandra West).
Most recently however, he was Danny Parker, a speed freak turned police informant. How Tom becomes Danny is told in a flashback within a flashback that sounds more confusing than it. Trust me, it's not hard to follow and it's all incredibly cool to untangle. . To explain that further would destroy one of the films great plot twists. Let's just say that the connection is a little strained but pays off incredibly well. The Salton Sea is funky, jazzy, and completely unpredictable. It's a lot like its star, Val Kilmer, a defiant, unforgettable original.
As Danny, our narrator explains his dealings with two cops, Morgan played by The Green Mile's Doug Hutchinson and Garcetti played by the ever reliable Anthony LaPaglia. To keep the cops from busting him, Danny offers to help the cops catch a drug dealer named Pooh Bear. Vincent D'onofrio plays Pooh Bear, one of the most unique and fascinating film characters in a long time. As Pooh Bear, D'onofrio communicates menace with a nasal southern drawl made scarier by the fact that the character has no nose.
You see, in the lore of The Salton Sea, Pooh Bear sniffed so much speed that his nose had to be removed. He covers the hole in his face with a plastic nose that when taken off delivers a visual punch not soon forgotten. Pooh Bear's unique hobbies include recreating the Kennedy Assassination with pet pigeons in place of the president and Mrs. Kennedy, and torturing his enemies by setting rabid animals loose on their exposed genitals. These unusual traits could make for an over the top and unbelievable character but Pooh Bear's strange southern folksiness and D'onofrio's amazing talent bring the character down to earth and make the character frighteningly believable.
The Salton Sea twists and turns like a combination of Memento and Pulp Fiction run through a blender and reassembled by a cocaine addled Crispin Glover. Writer Tony Gayton, whose previous credit was the slick detective story Murder By Numbers, here shows a flair for dialogue and characters that is quite unexpected when compared to the prepackaged thriller characters he previously put in place. With Director DJ Caruso providing the grimy imagery and Gayton drawing uniquely wild characters, The Salton Sea transcends its comparisons to stand on it's own as an exciting grunge noir. Though it's not as good as Pulp Fiction or Memento, The Salton Sea is nevertheless a stunning and unforgettable modern noir.
Val Kilmer and Vincent D'Onofrio each delivered career best performances in The Salton Sea. While they could easily have relied on character quirks and lazily gotten by, both actors appear deeply invested in these characters and giving them life. They are both weird and complicated, just the kind of juicy role that a Capital A Actor would want, neither Kilmer or D'onofrio are resting on the broader aspects of their character. Both actors masterfully compel the audience through their energy, the emotion, and the physical presence of these characters. By making Danny and Pooh Bear plausible they make them all the more terrifyingly believable as Pooh Bear enacts horrors and Danny makes us uneasy as we can't trust his perspective, even as he is our perspective character.
I have missed the unique presence of Val Kilmer ever since throat cancer made it nearly impossible for him to speak, let alone act. Thankfully, Kilmer did get a coda for his career. His brief cameo in Top Gun Maverick is a lovely lasting memory of Kilmer. He may have been diminished by a horrible disease but for one last time, Kilmer showed up and showed out one last time and stole the show from his friend, Tom Cruise, even as Tom is literally the Maverick of Top Gun Maverick. We were also lucky to get the documentary Val which you can find on many streaming services and hear as Val's son pays wonderful tribute to his dad. Also, seek out The Salton Sea, it's an amazing tribute to Kilmer's remarkable talent.
Find my archive of over 24 years and more than 2000 movie reviews at SeanattheMovies.blogspot.com. Find my modern review archive on my Vocal Profile, linked here. Follow me on Twitter at PodcastSean. Follow the archive blog on Twitter at SeanattheMovies. Also, join me on BlueSky, linked here. Listen to me talk about movies on the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast. If you have enjoyed what you have read, consider subscribing to my writing on Vocal. If you'd like to support my writing, you can do so by making a monthly pledge or by leaving a one time tip. Thanks!
About the Creator
Sean Patrick
Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.
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Comments (2)
I still love "Top Secret!". Can't believe he's gone... 💐
My favourite was always Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but I am happy to be wrong and shall check this out soon. Thanks and well done for a great review, as usual, Sean!