Angelina Jolie owns the screen in Salt, an exciting action thriller about a CIA agent who may or may not be working for the Russians. Is Evelyn Salt, Jolie’s character, loyal to the United States or to Russia? Either way, she's a marvel to watch -- whether running frantically through traffic, hanging from a window ledge, leaping from one speeding vehicle to another, shooting almost everyone in her way, or trying to hide her emotions about the man she loves. Jolie’s Evelyn Salt is like Lara Croft on speed. And, despite some head-scratching plot points, this fast-paced spy movie held my interest throughout.

Skillfully directed by Phillip Noyce (Rabbit Proof Fence) from a timely screenplay by Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium), Salt kept me in suspense about the main character’s true motivation for her destructive behavior. Just when I thought I had Evelyn Salt figured out, something would happen to make me question everything all over again. I love surprises while watching a movie, and Salt boasts some doozies.

What causes Evelyn Salt to go on her violent rampage? The trigger is a CIA office walk-in visit by Orlov (Daniel Olbrychski), an elderly Russian man who claims there will be an assassination attempt on the Russian president (Oleg Krupa) during his visit to the United States and that Evelyn is the one assigned to be the assassin. Orlov insists she belongs to a group of Russians who were specially trained as children, then placed in the United States with the goal of carrying out important missions later on. When her co-workers try to detain Evelyn, she escapes and the game is on. But what in the heck is she up to? That’s the big question!              

Jolie receives help here from a strong supporting cast including Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things) and August Diehl (Inglourious Basterds). Schreiber and Ejiofor, both fine actors, play two of Evelyn Salt’s concerned CIA colleagues, and Diehl delivers a sensitive turn as her devoted husband.

But Salt definitely belongs to Angelina Jolie. Her splendid work in this movie gives new meaning to the term “tour de force performance.” Here's hoping there will be a sequel.       

(Released by Columbia Pictures and rated “PG-13” for intense sequences of violence and action.)

For more information about Salt, go the Internet Movie Data Base or Rotten Tomatoes website.