The spy-thriller genre isn’t exactly hurting for content, the digital shelves jam-packed with all kinds of titles that run the gamut of comedy to drama and everything in-between. Thing is, they aren’t all that full of quality roles for women, most, especially in decades past, leaving the girls on the sidelines as either love interests or sexual conquests (thank you, James Bond). While a handful broke some ground, including 1993’s Point of No Return with the wonderful Bridget Fonda (itself a remake of Luc Besson‘s 1990 Le Femme Nikita), few have had any success.
Back in 2010 though, we got something fresh, a smart and exciting take on the old story with a woman at the forefront proving she can do anything the boys can do and then some. It’s Salt.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: After her trade from a North Korean prison, Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie), who claims she is a business woman but is in fact a CIA spy, marries her boyfriend Mike (August Diehl) and spends the next couple of years back on the job as a special agent. All seems good, but on her anniversary, into the headquarters walks Vasilyevich Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), a Russian defector offering some particularly interesting information. Salt goes into the interview room while her co-worker Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber) and counter-intelligence officer Darryl Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) watch behind glass, curious where this is going. It goes south fast. See, Orlov is packing a secret, that a string of sleeper agents have long infiltrated the United States and in a shocking twist, claims Salt is one of them (okay, not that shocking). Chaos ensues and suddenly Salt finds herself on the run, working both sides to clear her name and protect her husband. It’s Salt. Oh, wait, I said that already.
REVIEW: Famously meant to be a vehicle for Tom Cruise before it was decided the story was too close to his already popular Mission: Impossible films, the role was rewritten as a female with Jolie perfectly cast as the titular Salt. Seriously, she’s dead on awesome here, bringing a bit of that cartoony Lara Croft edge and a heavy does of blunt realism. She goes full tilt as both a clever spy and a kickass agent on the run, pumping plenty of adrenaline into the drama while keeping elegant and feminine to boot. It works really well. Directed by the always reliable Phillip Noyce, Salt is a fast-paced and intelligent thriller with a complicated story and a series of effective setpieces making this a splashy thriller well worth a night at the movies.
THAT MOMENT IN: Now that it’s out there, this won’t be a post wholly about how the film works only because it’s a woman in the lead. Instead, let’s deconstruct a genuinely exciting action scene that bends a few rules for some fun without going full Fast & Furious. And with a woman in the lead.
Salt gets named as a sleeper spy, though she doesn’t believe it, thinking no one else will either. However Peabody isn’t taking any chances and aggressively decides she needs to be bottled up. Fearing for her husband’s safety, she wants only to make a call, but is denied, so, inside the CIA headquarters, she takes off and after a brief but purposeful escape where we learn how clever she is (it involves panties and big booms), Salt ends up on the streets in a full sprint. Everyone chases.
She somehow makes it to her apartment and once there, discovers that Mike has been kidnapped, but she doesn’t have much time to dwell as Peabody, Winter, and a highly-trained team of gun-toting backups are on her tail. Don’t matter. She gets away again and makes for the streets but is eventually surrounded, seemingly caught with no where else to go. She pleads that she is innocent, being set up, and wants only to protect Mike. But she’s not getting any sympathy from these former pals, so … as one does in this sort of situation, she leaps off the overpass she’s standing on straight into traffic. (Editor’s note: Um, yeah. Don’t leap off an overpass in any sort of situation).
Passing right below is a semi pulling a container crate, which she lands on with a thump, rolling to safety as the stunned agents in her wake stare in disbelief. A blink later, and they are in pursuit, calling ahead to block the truck. Weighing her options as she sees the trap closing around her, all while surfing the top of the cargo box at highway speed, she makes another risky gamble, leaping to a tanker truck in the lane beside her, barely holding on as it wizzes past the barricade now stopping the first truck. We’re on the run again.
Peabody and WInter drive to an adjoining overpass and get the higher ground, where the now rather frustrated Peabody thinks he’s got a clear shot to take her down. Looks like it’s all over for our dear Miss Salt, but, hey … look! Another truck in the merging lane over there! And sure, this one is quite a bit farther away, but whoohoo, we’re all in now. You jump that gap, girl! She does.
Sticking (mostly) the landing, she holds on and once again seems safely on her way, but nope. Traffic comes to a crushing stop as agents in black SUVs descend on the scene like a horde of flies, and so, she’s back on her feet zipping through cars as authorities close in. Good thing a guy on a motorcycle sees these rows of parked cars and thinks, “Phfff. Not me.” He learns the hard way that Salt has other plans. She knocks him flat off his rump and steals his bike, zipping away like a shot bullet, threading the gauntlet of steel and rubber like a motocross champ before disappearing into the city and leaving Peabody and Winter stuck in a tangled mess of horn-honking traffic. Ain’t that always the way.
TAKE A BREATH: In movies like this, the chasing is essential, right? From Jason Bourne, to James Bond to well, just about any spy movie, the long bit where the hero takes flight with legions of hunters behind establishes that we’re dealing with a guy/gal pre-packed with cunning and quick wits. It’s not like we don’t know the outcome, especially since all these setpieces usually happen fairly early on, yet it gives the character a chance to spread their wings and build a trust between they and us, demonstrating that even in the most reckless and dangerous scenarios, they’ve got control, that sure, they may be a little vulnerable, but they ain’t lacking creativity and finesse. Or a penchant for playing loose and fancy free with the laws of gravity and physics.
Either way, what’s good about this moment, aside from Noyce’s direction, is how actually believable Jolie keeps it, refusing to play it with a wink or a few piffy one-liners. Instead, she feels cornered, like she making it up as she goes, and understands that whatever she chooses to do means no turning back. She’s calculating but she’s also at the mercy of her environment, which she is able to work to her advantage in ways that seems authentic, even if we need to stretch our suspension of disbelief for at least one of those truck jumps.
HEADING FOR THE CREDITS: There’s a good story in all this and some fun twists as Evelyn learns who she is and what dastardly manipulations have led her to this end. While some of this, including the Russian backstory is generic and the film steadily loses its grip on reality the further it pushes on, there’s a pulsating sense of exploration and commitment to the Salt character, led by a knockdown dragout performance from Jolie. Too bad there was never a sequel.