Starring Toby Kebbell and Shia LaBeouf, Salvable is an emotional drama revolving around Sal, a prominent boxer back in his prime, who’d lately been caught in the drudgery of mundanity. He lived in Wales and worked as a caregiver at an old age home. There was a certain quiet gentleness in his soul and a tender grace in the way he cared for his patients. He continued to train under Welly, his old trainer, after work. He was no longer the boxing star he once used to be; he had been reduced to a punching bag, and he did it for the extra cash. Sal’s life fell apart after he lost an important match and he never recovered from it. Sal figured out that the only way he could get his life back together was by keeping his head down and doing an honest job. But all of a sudden, when he noticed Vince, his childhood best friend, waiting for him outside the boxing ring, his life took a turn for the worse, again.
Spoiler Alert
How did Vince get Sal in trouble?
Vince had recently been released from prison, and as soon as he met Sal, he expressed his disappointment in watching him turn into a mere punching bag. He was heartbroken to see that the man who was once nicknamed ‘the Bull’ was content with scraps. Vince was not interested in living out his days at a low-paying job, and as soon as he was released, he got back in the hustle. He knew Sal was struggling to make ends meet, and all he needed to do was remind his friend that there was an alternative. Sal chose to stay in the right lane; he worked hard at his job and trained at night. But the feeling of emptiness started to get to him. He missed his patient who had recently passed away; his relationship with his daughter was not the best, and he was constantly under financial stress. Vince showed him the possibility of an easy way out of his mess. Sal perhaps knew that teaming up with Vince was not a good idea, but he didn’t have any other option. He arrived at Vince’s underground boxing ring, where no one really cared about the rules. He believed he was allowing his clients to feel closer to their primitive needs—blood and fighting. Vince requested Sal to take the position of the referee. He was neutral and a trained fighter, making him perfect for the role. Sal initially was not too keen on taking the job. He knew the risks involved in being a part of an illegal boxing match, but Vince was persistent, and Sal ultimately agreed. The fight, as was expected, ended up getting messy. Sal told Vince that the fighters needed doctors to check on them, but Vince didn’t pay heed to his concern. Since both parties knew what they were signing up for, Vince didn’t think they owed the fighters free treatment. After the match, Vince handed Sal a bundle of cash. It was way more than the money Sal made at the retirement home, and Vince promised to keep the cash flowing if Sal decided to work with him.
It was risky, but the money was good, and Sal wondered if maybe it was time for him to take risks again. But unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way he’d hoped for. The next fight he had to moderate was between two rowdy gangs. One of the gang members was suspicious of Sal, and he was quite convinced that Sal was a cop. To prove that he was not, Sal was asked to fight. He didn’t have a choice and was compelled to fight one of the gang members, Leon. As was expected, Leon wasn’t trained to handle a professional boxer, and he was in a bloody condition within a few minutes of the fight. But the gang encouraged Leon to keep on fighting even though he could barely stand. Sal realized that if he punched the guy one more time, he would die, so he backed out. This meant that Vince owed the gang fifteen thousand pounds. He had ten days to clear the payment.
Why did Sal agree to the robbery plan?
Vince and his gang decided to rob a jewelry store to pay back the gangsters as well as make some extra cash for themselves. Sal knew the risks involved in executing the plan, but he was more hopeful about Vince’s poorly organized plan than living his mundane life. Sal had lost custody of his daughter, Molly, because of his living circumstances. He had only a trailer to his name, and the court didn’t think it was good enough to raise his daughter in such an unstable environment. His ex-wife didn’t think he was a good father since he’d mostly been absent from Molly’s life. She was done tolerating his whimsical ways, and after she won custody of Molly, she told Sal that he didn’t have to take any responsibility pertaining to their daughter. But that was not what Sal wanted. He cared about Molly, and she was perhaps the only reason he kept on trying. But he didn’t know how to make up for their lost time, and he struggled to understand her. Sal wanted to provide a safe space for his daughter—buy a house somewhere away from his hometown to start afresh. On his worst days, Sal preferred going through old newspaper clippings of the time he and Vince made it to the Olympics. He found comfort in Molly’s baby pictures, reminding him of a time when his life was not completely a mess.
Sal blamed himself when Molly’s principal contacted him and told him that she’d found weed in her bag. He thought he was a terrible influence on her and begged Laura, the principal, to let go of the incident. He knew Molly was better than that, and he promised to have a word with her. Molly thought she was quite like her father, but Sal reminded her that she was only a human being like himself who had made mistakes in life, but that, of course, must never define her. Sal was physically tortured by his father when he was young, and he grew up hating him, and that was why he took up boxing in the first place. When he distanced himself from Molly and her mother, he thought Molly too would grow up to hate him. He eventually realized how he couldn’t make his life through without her, and all he wanted was for her to know that he’d made mistakes in life, and he hoped she would not hold it against him forever. Sal added that Molly was allowed to make mistakes, it was part of growing up, and that she must always remember that there is a life beyond her school and her hometown and be prepared for the bigger picture.
Sal chose not to tell her mother about the incident at school, and Molly was grateful to him. She felt that he understood her, and she appreciated how he tried to be there for her instead of lecturing her. She hugged him tightly before she went home. Sal didn’t want to be a disappointment to Molly, and he knew that the gangsters could mess up his life if he and Vince failed to pay back the money they owed. He had been replaced at the old age home as a result of his inconsistent attendance. Considering his circumstances, Sal knew that he didn’t have any other option but to help Vince and his gang rob the store.
Did Sal die in the end?
Vince assumed that the safe at the jewelry store would be loaded by the end of the week, so he decided to rob the place on Friday. He predicted that the safe would have about 500k by then, and within just a few hours, their lives would be altered. Sal had a boxing match on Friday, where he was expected to lose, but he had to show up nonetheless, at least for Welly. His old coach knew that Vince was a terrible influence on Sal, and he’d warned him about it. He knew that Sal’s career hadn’t panned out as expected, but he was proud of him for not giving up.
In Salvable’s ending, Sal, Vince, and his other gang members dressed in ski masks entered the jewelry store with guns in their hands. They grabbed some of the jewelry, and they forced the store owner to open the safe. The old man obliged, but to their surprise there was nothing in there. Vince threatened him to tell them where the money was, but the old man refused to say anything. He got into a fight with Vince, and during the scuffle, Vince mistakenly pulled the trigger on Sal. He screamed out in pain; the bullet had pierced his leg. Vince tourniqueted his leg with a belt. Sal begged Vince and the gang to leave, knowing that the police would arrive at the scene any time now. Sal could either wait to be arrested, or he could try one last time to fight his situation. Sal chose the latter and managed to walk out of the store. He knew that Welly would be waiting for him, and he tried to make it to the boxing ring. Even though he was paid to lose, not showing up for a match was not something that Sal ever did. Vince was in his car when he noticed Sal slowly walking in the neighborhood. He also saw the cops following him, so he decided to sacrifice himself to save his friend.
Vince was guilty of putting Sal in the precarious situation, and instead of ignoring the mistakes he’d made, Vince decided to face them. He didn’t have the money to pay back the gangsters, and he had realized that no matter what he did, he would always make the wrong choices for a few extra bucks. For the sake of their friendship, Vince gave himself up to the cops. He fired a shot to grab their attention, and presumably he was arrested immediately. Sal made it to the beach, but the excruciating pain in his leg made it impossible for him to walk any further. He collapsed on the beach and waited for the pain to completely consume him. In the final scene of Salvable, Sal remembered the good old days that he’d spent with Molly when she was a little girl. Those were the best days of his life. The fact that Sal opened his eyes at the very end of the film suggests that maybe he was not ready to give up yet.
What does the future look like for Sal and Vince?
Considering his leg injury, it was impossible for Sal to make it back to the boxing ring. Just when he’d won Molly’s trust and affection, he left her doubting him again. If we go by the possibility that Sal didn’t give up, then maybe he would somehow make it back home. Considering he had a bullet in his leg, the chances of him ending up at the hospital seem highly plausible, and in that case, he will end up behind bars. Even if he avoids it, his life would not be the same again. He would continue to struggle, but maybe the possibility of spending time with Molly will keep him going. The ending confirms that Vince ended up in prison again, and considering he was involved in a robbery and had fired a shot in front of the cops, his sentencing will not be lenient. While the intricacies remain blurry to us, Salvable’s ending is grim because no matter how hard Sal tried, life always disappointed him in one way or another. He tried to be good and go by the rules, but it was not enough for him to sustain, and when he attempted to take the shortcut, everything was taken away from him again. It almost seemed as if his life was beyond salvation but as a fighter he might get back on his feet for one last round, to hold on to the little that mattered to him.
