Entertainment : From the front row of the balcony: \'Salt\' makes viewers hope for sequel

I have to admit I was not looking forward to ‘Salt,” which brought Angelina Jolie back to the Palace Screen.

You may remember her performance in the funny and fast-paced “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

I was expecting a dull movie with lots of high-speed chases featuring a scantily-clad actress.

For the first few minutes, it seemed I was right. And this movie does feature a lot of chase scenes, which I normally find utterly boring.  But Angelina Jolie does most of her action as a blond wearing a business suit.

“Salt” is fun and fast-paced, although as you can imagine, if I was watching it on DVD, I would have fast-forwarded through the silly chase scenes. But audiences must like those scenes because movie-makers keep putting them in movies.

But more importantly, the movie keeps you guessing.

Is Salt a good guy who is falsely accused of being a Russian mole?

Is Salt a Russian mole pretending to be a good guy?

Is Salt a good guy pretending to be a Russian mole in order to stop a terror attack.

Is Salt motivated by something other than loyalty to a particular nation?

“Wait a minute,” some ladies may say. “Why do you keep referring to Angelina Jolie as a ‘guy?’”

Oops, my bad. Sorry, Dude.

Here’s the story:

Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is being tortured by North Koreans, accused of being a U.S. spy. She returns home after being exchanged for a suspected North Korean spy. She asks her handler why the CIA agreed to the exchange, even though it put the mission at risk.

“Because of him,” says the handler, pointing to an arachnologist. “If we wouldn’t have come, he would have invaded North Korea himself to find you.”

Two years, later, Salt is married to Spider Guy and working as a spy. A Russian defector shows up and says he has some big news of major significance concerning an immediate national security threat. Salt interrogates the guy while her colleagues listen in from another room. The guy then said a Russian is in the USA to kill the Russian President. And, he says, that Russian’s name is Evelyn Salt.

Salt realizes that she faces two crises at this point: She’s in BIG trouble with the CIA and her husband's life is in danger. She begins to flee from her colleagues, who now suspect she could be a mole, while trying to rescue her husband and clear her name. The chase winds from Washington, D.C. to Manhattan, where the Russian leader is attending the funeral of the American Vice President.

Her pursuit reveals a secret long-term plan by Russian nationalists to destroy the U.S. from within. It also reveals why she has become a suspect in such a plot.

Why you should go:

If you like spy movies, this is probably the best one you will see this year.

“It kind of left you hanging,” said one woman who saw the show. “It makes you wonder if there will be a sequel.”

If so, I’d like to see it. And I usually don’t care that much for spy movies.

And, it seemed, the audience left the Palace feeling as though they had seen a worthwhile movie.

And while "Salt" is obviously fiction, the recent exchange of spies in the news is a reminder of the risks that spies still take to keep America safe.

Also, I need to finish reading that Sports Illustrated article about Doc Halladay, the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, and his comeback from the Minor Leagues. (The Palace has lots of SI issues, and most have some very worthwhile stories that go beyond the scores to the lives of the athletes.)

What you should know before you go:

“Salt” is rated PG-13 mostly for action violence. It also has a lot of chase scenes which feature implausible actions by anyone, especially a lady in a business suit.

My favorite part:

“I don’t want to be safe. I want to be with you.”