This "Salt" Leaves a Bitter Aftertaste

There was an article printed this week where a high-placed Hollywood studio official decried Hollywood is not in the business of telling stories - they are in the business of making money. Most people realize an approach like this can't really sustain an industry for long (Take note, Peter Angelos!). To that official I reply that you may be in the business of making money, but given your current watered down product, and the price you demand for your "service", it's only a matter of time before people start catching on and staying home. It's already started.

I had a movie I wanted to watch for my first weekly Girls Night with a friend - "Red". We'd been planning this for weeks and we decided that was the film we wanted to see. However, I forgot to reserve it through Redbox online and by the time we went to get it, it wasn't there. So we settled for "Salt".

"Settle" describes this film perfectly. Let's talk about all the people who settled for this movie. Firstly, the studio. They were naive enough to actually think that this could be the start of a female-driven action franchise. Actually it could have been - twenty years or so ago. They locked up start Angelina Jolie, who settled for a paycheck. They hired writers who wanted to write about the villainous Russians, in a time when international cinematic villains are usually from the Middle East. That's story settling if I ever heard it (that doesn't involve Nazis, that is).

The second part of the article says that the reason films are unimaginative is that studio heads are my age - people who grew up with a lack of storytelling. They mention the creation of the "summer blockbuster" as the time when it all started to go downhill. It is true that "Salt" was released in July, during the height of the summer season, when Disbelief and Plausibility have also gone on vacation. However, I do have limits. Given the fact that it made under 125 million domestically, I'm not alone.

It's funny how the less you pay for something, the less you expect. There's really no such thing as a bargain. That's why Redbox is so popular. I won't pay 4.99 to see most things On Demand. I sure as hell won't pay 10.00 (or 13.00) to see them theatrically. But for 1.06 my standards do drop. Was it worth 1.06? Sure. My friend and I sat in her living room, and although we don't usually agree cinematically, we were right in synch with this one. We both agreed that it was ridiculous, and we groaned in all the same places.

But as we go into Oscar Week, let's remember that there's a time to settle, and a time to select. Here's hoping that Hollywood (and Mr. Angelos) eventually get the hint. I only have faith in one of them.