The Salton Sea (2002)

Director: D.J. Caruso

Screenplay: Tony Gayton

Stars: Val Kilmer, Vincent D’Onofrio, Adam Goldberg, Luis Guzmán, Doug Hutchison, Anthony LaPaglia, Peter Sarsgaard, BD Wong, R. Lee Ermey, Meat Loaf and Danny Trejo.

Tagline: If You’re Looking For The Truth, You’ve Come To The Wrong Place.

The Plot…

Danny Parker (Kilmer) survived a tragic incident and now runs with drug addicts and criminals.  But all is not as it seems.  As the tagline says, “If you’re looking for truth, you’ve come to the wrong place.”

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

When I first watched The Salton Sea, I was almost ready to tap out when Val Kilmer does something (I won’t give it away) that told me, not all is as it seems.  I had gone in to the film cold and wasn’t aware of the tagline or the plot.  I love the twists and reveals throughout The Salton Sea.

D.J. Caruso has assembled a great cast.  The standout though is Vincent D’Onofrio as Pooh-Bear, a noseless, crazy drug dealer.  D’Onofrio, as he is apt to do, owns every scene he’s in.

On my initial viewing of The Salton Sea, I rated it 5 of 5 stars.  I recently rewatched The Salton Sea and it could be because I knew the plot twists/reveals that I dropped the rating to 4 of 5 stars (which is, of course still really good).

The Salton Sea (2002) rates 4 of 5 stars.

Code of Silence (1985)

Director: Andrew Davis

Screenplay: Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack, Mike Gray story by Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack

Stars: Chuck Norris, Henry Silva, Bert Remsen, Mike Genovese, Nathan Davis, Molly Hagan and Dennis Farina.

Tagline: Eddie Cusack’s a good cop having a very bad day.

The Plot…

Sergeant Eddie Cusack (Norris) is in charge of a stakeout to take down some big time drug dealers.  The stakeout goes sideways when the drug dealers are ripped off and killed.  The thieves get away and Cragie, an alcoholic cop on Cusack’s team. accidentally kills a kid. Cragie then plants a gun on the kid to make the killing look legit.  Cusak finds himself alone as he looks to bring Cragie to justice and find the killers.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Code of Silence was originally offered to Clint Eastwood as a potential Dirty Harry film but Eastwood passed.

This was director Andrew Davis’ first action movie.  He would go on to direct action classics like Above the Law; Under Siege and The Fugitive.

I saw Code of Silence when it was initially released and liked it much better then than on a recent re-watch.

Code of Silence (1985) rates 2 of 5 stars.

Black and Blue (2019)

Director: Deon Taylor

Screenplay: Peter A. Dowling

Stars: Naomie Harris, Tyrese Gibson, Frank Grillo, Mike Colter and James Moses Black

Tagline: The truth made her a target.

The Plot…

After a stint in the Army, Alicia West (Harris) has returned to her tough New Orleans neighborhood as a police officer.  Alicia quickly learns that although she grew up there and is black, everyone now sees her as “blue”.  This is driven home from her interactions with people she grew up with — they distrust the police and she’s now one of them.

When Alicia agrees to pick up an extra shift, she paired with a veteran cop.  They take a couple of calls and then he tells her to wait in the car while he enters a building.  When Alicia hears a gunshot, she leaves the car and heads to help her partner.  She’s surprised to see him with some undercover cops as they murder a drug dealer.  When Alicia is seen, one of the cops shoots her.  Wounded and on the run, Alicia becomes the target of cops and the gangbangers when word is put out that she executed the drug dealers!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Naomie Harris is excellent as the rookie cop, wounded and alone with no one to trust and everyone wanting her dead.  Tyrese Gibson and Frank Grillo are always welcome additions to any cast.  The real surprise for me is Mike Colter. Colter plays a huge, scary drug lord determined to avenge the murder of his nephew.  He owns every scene he’s in.

Black and Blue (2019) rates 5 of 5 stars.

Malone (1987)

Director: Harley Cokeliss

Screenplay: Christopher Frank, William P. Wingate

Stars: Burt Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, Kenneth McMillan, Cynthia Gibb, Scott Wilson, Lauren Hutton, Tracey Walter and Dennis Burkley.

Tagline: He didn’t start the fight… but he’ll sure as hell finish it.

The Plot…

Malone (Reynolds) is a retired C.I.A. assassin.  While driving across country, Malone’s car breaks down outside a small town.  He pushes the car to the only gas station for miles and meets the owner, Paul Barlow (Wilson) and his teenage daughter Jo (Gibb).  Barlow allows Malone to stay at his house while they wait for the car part to arrive.  Malone learns that a rich man named Delaney (Robertson) is buying up all the property in the area and is putting a squeeze on Barlow.  When thugs are sent to convince Barlow to sell, Malone steps in.  Soon Malone finds himself going against Delaney and his former allies at the C.I.A..

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Does it get any more mid-80s than Burt Reynolds, Cliff Robertson, Kenneth McMillan, Cynthia Gibb, Scott Wilson and Lauren Hutton?

Burt Reynolds described Malone as a retelling of Shane and he’s not far off… except the young boy is now a teenage girl with the hots for Malone.

If you’re a Burt Reynolds fan you’ll enjoy Malone more than a non-fan so keep that in mind as you consider my rating.  I’m a Reynolds fan.

Malone (1987) rates 3 of 5 stars.

AKA (2023)

Director: Morgan S. Dalibert

Screenplay: Morgan S. Dalibert, Alban Lenoir

Stars: Alban Lenoir, Eric Cantona and Kevin Layne.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Adam Franco (Lenoir) is a French government agent assigned to infiltrate the Pastore crime family.  To do so Franco will need to gain the trust of the cartel’s leader, Victor Pastore (Cantona).  Once done, Franco will be able to take down the entire Pastore mob.  When Pastore’s son is kidnapped by a rival gang, Franco puts his mission at risk to save the kid…

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Alban Lenoir isn’t a traditionally handsome movie star.  He gives off a Charles Bronson vibe.  Lenoir shows a greater range in AKA than in some of his previous outings and he’s more than effective in his action scenes.  I’d love to see him return for another outing as Adam Franco.

If you’re a fan of action movies with heart you should enjoy AKA.

AKA (2023) rates 5 of 5 stars.