After enjoying a tad more sleep than the previous night, I headed back down to the Paramount theater to once again join my colleague Liz for another red carpet opening. This time, writer/director/actor James Franco presented SAL, a motion picture he wrote and directed about the last day of hollywood legend Sal Mineo's life. Several years ago, after portraying James Dean in a television movie, Franco first became aware of the life and career of Mineo, who appeared in Dean's films REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE and GIANT. Sal Mineo was murdered in 1976 prior to his attempted comeback as a Hollywood star. During this period in his life Mineo (Val Lauren) had pretty much embraced a gay lifestyle, and was feverishly working to make a return to films by lobbying to direct his first feature film. Franco's film takes audiences through the entire day, beginning with his intense workout in the gym through his meeting with his agents, as well as his normal everyday connections with friends, and rehearsals with his play co-star Keir Dullea (Jim Parrack).
Franco's film does present a lovely and intimate portrait of a man whose lovely personality and caring heart touched the lives of those around him. The movie focusses on all of the little mundane details of his everyday life which does tend to bog the film's pace down a bit. It is clear; however, that Franco's intention is to present a realistic take without over dramatizing the events that led up to his surprising and tragic death. Franco definitely wore his film school hat on this project showing much talent as a director deriving his style from inspirations John Cassavettes and Gus Van Sant. Actor Val Lauren offers an amazing performance with much much charm and charisma as Mineo. During the Q & A, Lauren noted that he spent about five months preparing for this role by studying Mineo in his films and by spending time with Sal's former lover Courtney. Lauren went on to lovingly say, " Sal was an extremely sensitive soul."
Mark Saldana
The Movie Doc
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