Salt Review

I should probably start out this movie review by telling you that I'm not a critic. Because of my job, I'm lucky enough to see a lot of movies before they come out. It's actually my favorite perk of my job. When I say I'm not a critic what I mean is that my reviews are going to be based on what I thought of the movie and if it was entertaining to me. I'm not going to critique the lighting and the way the extras acted in the 47th minute of the film. Why won't I be focusing on that? Because the average Joe (IE: myself) doesn't care about stuff like that. We just want to be entertained. I'm glad we got that out of the way. I also have a different kind of rating system. It looks a little like this...

Opening Night - You must see it in the theater
Rainy Day - Worth seeing in the theater but you don't need to rush out.
On Demand - Rent it On Demand before it hits the stores
Red Box - Worth dropping a buck on it but not much more
TNT - Wait until it hits cable and don't waste any money on it.

There are actors/actresses that just don't need to act anymore. They can be very choosy when it comes to scripts because they already have a great portfolio and plenty of money. Angelina Jolie is one of those actresses. When I hear that she's doing a movie I automatically have high hopes for it because I know she doesn't NEED to say yes. Most of my hopes and expectations were met in this movie. It's a perfect summer action thriller. A little bit of set up and then 90 minutes of action. No dull points in the middle where you start to get bored.

Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) works for the C.I.A. along with Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber). They're both at the top of the game and are brought in to question a Russian defector named Orlov that mysteriously shows up on the C.I.A.'s secret doorstep. Orlov tells Salt about a secret Russian program that trained spies to be inserted into American society, sometimes for decades, until a target date when they'll wreak havoc. He claims that Salt is one of those spies and that's when the mayhem begins. I can't tell you much more because it would giveaway the plot twists.

I really enjoyed this film. It had me glued to my seat all the way through and I never felt the need to check my watch to see what time it was in order to estimate how much longer I'd be sitting there. I also thought Liev Schreiber and Jolie performed very well in their roles but that shouldn't come as much of a surprise.

I give it a Rainy Day rating. You'll enjoy your time in the theater but I don't think you need to rush out to see it immediately.