Salt

In respect of her film career, and much like the Coen Brothers, Angelina Jolie seems to have a nice balance of mixing “one for them” (i.e. the studios), with “one for me”. The studio films, of course, being mainly mindless blockbusters. Her latest film, Salt, fits into the first category, and whilst it’s still a gone from the memory the second you leave the cinema special, whilst you’re watching it you’ll definitely be entertained. There are two main reasons for this, Jolie herself, and director Philip Noyce. In the film Jolie takes the role of Evelyn Salt, an employee of the CIA who goes on the run after a Russian spy spills the beans to the CIA that the Russian President will be murdered by an assassin named….Evelyn Salt. Not a bad pitch as it goes and it leads to a decent game of is she / isn’t she? Jolie is great in this, toning down the sexiness of similar roles and giving us a more rounded individual who can mix emotion and smarts amongst the mayhem. Along with Jolie there is decent support from Liev Schreiber as her boss at the CIA, Ted Winter (Has there ever been a more CIA name than that in cinema history?). Noyce is an old hand at this game and moves the story along at a breakneck pace, getting a bottom kicking performance from Jolie and utilising some cracking and what appears to be mainly CGI free stunts, particularly in a hair-raising motorbike / car / truck chase scene (Knight and Day hang your head in shame). Having said all that there are plot holes galore and Noyce doesn’t leave much room for any character development. Still, when silliness is this much fun, who cares?

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Thrills, spills and Jolie in top form more than make up for the implausibility of the plot. Rating: 7/10.