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The Salton Sea
After the murder of his beloved wife, a man in search of redemption is set adrift in a world where nothing is as it seems. On his journey, he befriends slacker Jimmy "The Finn", becomes involved in rescuing his neighbor Colette from her own demons, and gets entangled in a web of deceit full of unexpected twists and turns.
2002 · Directed by D.J. Caruso · 103 min · Crime · Drama · Mystery · Thriller · Screenplay in the scene database · 8 frames
Tagline
If you're looking for the truth, you've come to the wrong place.
Plot
"Danny Parker" is a Los Angeles speed freak (meth addict) who hangs out with junkie friends while indulging in drugs. He also moonlights as an informant for two corrupt cops, Gus Morgan and Al Garcetti. Danny is trying to set up a large meth score with notorious drug dealer Pooh-Bear, an eccentric psychopath who lost his nose to excessive snorting of meth, while also attempting to set up a sting operation for Morgan and Garcetti. When he returns home, Danny takes on his former persona as trumpet player "Tom Van Allen." He reveals to Colette, an abused neighbor, that he was once happily married, only to watch as his wife was gunned down by masked thieves during a stopover at the Salton Sea.
When meeting with Pooh-Bear, Danny becomes fearful of his bizarre homicidal behavior, taping a gun to the bottom of Pooh-Bear's dinner table. Danny's parents-in-law track him down, believing he has sunk into depression after his wife's death, but he refuses their help. As the deal approaches, it is revealed that Danny is double crossing Morgan and Garcetti by working with the FBI to take them down. Danny did so upon investigating Morgan and realizing he was one of the gunmen who killed his wife, delving into the drug world to become a believable junkie and ingratiate himself with him and Garcetti.
On the night of the deal, Danny, with the help of his best friend Jimmy, leads the FBI to the wrong location and drives to Pooh-Bear's compound. At the dinner table, tensions rise and one of Pooh-Bear's armed men tries to kill Danny, who retrieves the gun he stashed earlier and shoots the rest of the gang. Shot in the chest by Pooh-Bear, Parker collapses to the floor. Pooh-Bear, wounded in the shooting, encounters and is killed by Morgan and Garcetti. Garcetti is then killed by Danny, who had been wearing a bulletproof vest. Morgan shoots Danny, revealing that he knows he murdered his wife. Danny stabs Morgan in the neck with Pooh-Bear's syringe. He picks up a pistol, and briefly contemplates suicide, but kills Morgan and flees.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: Tony Gayton
- Cinematography: Amir Mokri
- Edited by: Jim Page
- Music: Thomas Newman
- Production design: Tom Southwell
- Produced by: Frank Darabont, Butch Robinson, Ken Aguado, Eriq La Salle
Cast
- Val Kilmer as Tom Van Allen | Danny Parker
- Vincent D'Onofrio as Pooh-Bear
- Adam Goldberg as Kujo
- Luis Guzmán as Quincy
- Doug Hutchison as Gus Morgan
- Anthony LaPaglia as Al Garcetti
- Glenn Plummer as Bobby
- Peter Sarsgaard as Jimmy the Finn
- Deborah Kara Unger as Colette
- Chandra West as Liz
Production
- Country: United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: Humble Journey Films, Castle Rock Entertainment, Darkwoods Productions
- Budget: $18,000,000
- Box office: $1,073,198
- Themes: california, dual identity, identity, detective, junkie, jazz singer or musician, drug scene, flashback, murder, police corruption
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