Getting' on a motorbike, Lookin' really ladylike

Rating: 6/10 (1 February 2011)

The year was 1997. Modern-day megastar Angelina Jolie had yet to hit the big time, and had earnt her latest paycheck from appearing as a runaway escort in the music video for The Rolling Stones' Anybody Seen My Baby? (A lyric of which serves as the inspiration for this review's title). The clip was extremely well directed, and the song was, in this music- illiterate's opinion, the standout of their Bridges To Babylon album.
But I digress. There are many ways to describe the slightly above-average Salt, but Mr. Jagger puts it best. With this film, Jolie proves beyond doubt that no other actress can carry the weight of an action film with the poise and style that she possesses. In a similar fashion to her husband (but not quite to the same extent), Jolie's life has become so engulfed by the media that one can easily forget that acting skills that made her so famous in the first place. The plot is arguably the most inspired and enjoyable aspect of the film. A multitude of twists in the second half make it difficult to describe without giving away key details, but its outward originality is very refreshing in a genre typically lacking in new ideas.
Evelyn Salt is a CIA interrogator who becomes involved in a conspiracy theory concerning Russian sleeper spies planted in America almost fifty years ago. Needless to say, it requires an immense suspension of disbelief (none more so than when an explanation is given for the Russians being responsible for the murder of JFKwe all know it was the Mafia's idea) but it becomes increasingly enticing, even if it does lose its way a little at the end.
Jolie really does carry this film right from the opening scene. Aptly complemented by Schreiber, Ejiofor and Inglourious Basterds' August Diehl, this is the type of film that dosen't require the lead to overstretch their acting chops, but instead deliver where it counts: the pure entertainment department. With a performance that requires rapid personality changes to accommodate different scenarios, Jolie's character remains at the forefront of the action, and more than holds her own during the speedy but well-directed action scenes. And yes, she does look good doing it.
But Jolie does not deserve all of the credit with respect to the portrayal of the title character. Screenplay writer Kurt Wimmer, while not exactly delivering a groundbreaking script, has created a complex figure in Evelyn Salt. As the viewer, you'll find yourself constantly questioning her role in the story, even after her true identity is revealed.
As mentioned earlier, Salt begins to stray in the final scene, where the characters' motives are somewhat sacrificed in preference of an explosive, gun-toting finale, which comes dangerously close to filtering in an avalanche of crime-thriller clichés in the process. In fact, it becomes too convoluted for its own good. For a film that commences so promisingly and keeps up that air of intrigue during the Second Act, it feels as if director Phillip Noyce tried to pull an Inception, that is, putting together an ending so mind-bending it leaves everyone in the cinema talking long after the movie is over.
In that respect, the film fails. The outcome is needlessly complicated, and the process through which we get to that outcome makes less and less sense the more I think about it. Nonetheless, the film on the whole is, just like the apple strudel in Diehl's previous film, not terrible.