***1/4
Starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schrebier and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
Directed by Phillip Noyce.
First of all, kudos to the marketing department for not giving away giant chunks of the story. It was refreshing to see a summer action movie where most of the plot is not given away. The trailer has the plot of the first half-hour or so, and then out-of-context action sequences, but it was nice to not have the whole movie already spelled out.
Second of all, I don't know why Tom Cruise passed on this, but I'm glad for Angelina Jolie's sake he did. Jolie's always been one of the more credible action heroines (Tomb Raider, Mr. & Mrs. Smith), but this is a vehicle that really lets her show off what she can do.
Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, CIA agent, accused of being a Russian spy by a defector. Rather than let herself be locked down for questioning, she goes on the run to find her husband and clear her name. In many ways, it plays like The Fugitive, with her friend and boss (Schreiber) and the head of counter-intelligence (Ejiofor) always hot on her tail.
The movie is constant action, and as such there are some awfully convenient coincidences. But I had fun and I'd be happy if they greenlit a Salt 2.
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