The Salton Sea

After his wife is murdered, a jazz trumpeter changes his identity and slips into a drug-ridden underworld to find whoever was responsible. Living under the name Danny Parker, he works as a police informant while trying to stay close to the people who might lead him to the killer. His path crosses that of Jimmy the Finn, a small-time crook, and draws the attention of two detectives with their own plans for the neighbourhood. Danny also tries to help his neighbour Colette, who is struggling with troubles of her own, and he becomes caught up in a deal involving a major dealer known as Pooh-Bear. What begins as an investigation turns into a tangle of deception in which little is what it appears to be.

The Salton Sea was released in 2002 and runs 103 minutes. It was directed by D. J. Caruso, the first of the films he directed in the chronological list that continues with Taking Lives and later titles, from a screenplay by Tony Gayton. Val Kilmer leads as Tom Van Allen, also called Danny Parker, with Vincent D'Onofrio, Adam Goldberg, Luis Guzmán, Doug Hutchison and Anthony LaPaglia among the cast; the production had 37 credited cast members and 83 credited crew, and Frank Darabont, Eriq La Salle and Butch Robinson served as producers.

Made for about 18 million dollars, the film took in roughly one million dollars worldwide, a small return against its cost. On TMDB it holds 6.6 out of 10 from 379 votes.