Director Phillip Noyce’s 2010 film “Salt” was something of a success, making over $290 million in theaters on a $130 million budget and earning the great Roger Ebert’s seal of approval. Yet, somehow, it remains obscure. Really, it’s hard to see why it wasn’t a bigger hit. It’s a slick, action-packed spy thriller starring the dazzling Angelina Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a character who’s just as adept at kicking ass as she is slipping out of the authorities’ fingers using her wits and the tools at hand. Indeed, Evelyn’s every bit as interesting as James Bond or Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt from the “Mission: Impossible” movies (which explains why Cruise nearly starred in “Salt” before Jolie came aboard).
“Salt” was written by Kurt Wimmer, a hardworking Hollywood veteran who made a proper name for himself when he penned and directed the somewhat overlooked 2002 dystopian sci-fi action flick “Equilibrium” starring Christian Bale. Wimmer has since written not-very-good remakes like “Total Recall,” “Point Break,” and “Children of the Corn,” but with “Salt,” he was firing on all cylinders. It’s a spy thriller par excellence. Which is to say that, yes, it’s a little absurd, but the stakes are high, the main character is great, and the stunts are spectacular. This film is the kind of entertainment that should be every blockbuster’s birthright yet is rarely actually made.
But don’t take my word for it. Ebert gave “Salt” four out of four stars, even titling his review, “Now HERE’s what I mean by an action movie.” As he put it, “[‘Salt’] does all the things I can’t stand in bad movies, and does them in a good one. It’s like a rebuke to all the lousy action movie directors who’ve been banging pots and pans together in our skulls.” High praise indeed.
Roger Ebert felt Salt was one of the best action movies of its year
Roger Ebert was quick to point out that “Salt” wasn’t free of the absurdities that tend to plague the action genre. He observed that the movie has plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, yet it’s “gloriously absurd.” Ebert, who was a notoriously horny critic, also took a little time to praise how good Angelina Jolie looks, running down her most attractive body parts. It’s a little sexist, yes, but Ebert was born in 1942, and his lasciviousness is harmless enough.
The plot of “Salt” is pretty standard spy movie stuff. Evelyn Salt is a CIA agent who is put in charge of interrogating a Russian prisoner (Daniel Olbrychski) who potentially has information on an upcoming assassination attempt. The prisoner says that a super Russian agent, codename KA-12, will carry out the assassination. KA-12’s real name, he adds, is … Evelyn Salt. Salt’s boss Darryl Peabody, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, immediately demands that Salt be detained, but she snaps into a Hitchcockian “woman on the run” mode immediately. In a clever and sexy scene, Evelyn blocks a security camera by hanging her underwear over the lens. Yeah, this film is a silly hoot.
Of course, the question arises: is Evelyn Salt being falsely accused of being a Russian double-agent? Or is she actually a Russian double-agent? Of course, when it comes to the film’s plot, Ebert didn’t much care, writing, “You’re not going to hear much about the plot here. Nothing I could tell you would be necessary for you to know, and everything could be fatal to your enjoyment. Let’s just make it simple: She plays a woman determined to singlehandedly save the world from nuclear annihilation.” Succinct.
Most critics didn’t like Salt as much as Roger Ebert did
Andrew Schwartz/Sony Pictures Releasing
Roger Ebert also noted that Angelina Jolie is incredibly capable as an action lead. “She brings the conviction to her role that such a movie requires,” he wrote before continuing:
“She throws herself into it with animal energy. Somehow, improbably, she doesn’t come off as a superhero (although her immunity suggests one), but as a brave and determined fighter. How does she look? She looks beautiful by default, and there’s a scene in an office where she looks back over her shoulder to talk with [Liev Schreiber’s character] and you think, oh, my. But neither Jolie nor [Phillip] Noyce overplays her beauty, and she gets gritty and bloody and desperate, and we get involved.”
“It’s exhilarating to see a genre picture done really well,” Ebert added to close out his review. “Salt” even concludes with a sequel tease, as if we’ve just seen the origin story of a new superhero. Sadly, though, “Salt 2” has yet to come to pass (and probably never will).
At the time of the movie’s theatrical release, it’s worth mentioning, Ebert wasn’t in the vast majority when it came to “Salt.” Quite the contrary, most critics felt it was merely serviceable, as evidenced by the film’s 61% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Certain reviewers simply found it too cheesy, while others thought its action was too plentiful and noisy. Ebert, on the other hand, liked it just the way it was made, and I happen to agree with him.
