2 Days in the Valley
Starring: Teri Hatcher, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello, Charlize Theron, Greg Cruttwell, James Spader, Glenne Headly, Eric Stoltz, Keith Carradine, Louise Fletcher, Michael Jai White, Peter Horton
Directed by: John Herzfeld
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Thriller
1996

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Over a period of 48 hours in Los Angeles, a diverse mix of people find their lives unexpectedly colliding over a series of crimes.

Review:

Tim: John Herzfeld's 2 Days in the Valley got a bunch of unfair comparisons to Pulp Fiction. While there's some similarities, yes, that film is a classic. Any movie would pale in comparison. That's especially true when you have a movie like this, that's not even close to any kind of greatness. It's not that the movie is bad- not at all. It's just an eminently average one. There's a few strengths that are really exciting, but a whole lot of flaws and false starts, too. In the end, it's a decent movie. But, comparing it to good movies (let alone great ones) will just make it look worse.

I suppose the overall story is fairly decent. We see this large cast of very different characters, all of whom intersect around the theme of crime in a two day span. This approach has been done before. The good side of this is we get introduced to a bunch of memorable characters. The bad side is that the jumping around never really gives the film a sense of momentum. Some characters are underdeveloped, so when they cross with other characters, it doesn't quite deliver the impact desired. Some characters feel mostly forgotten, the tying up of their individual stories a bit rushed and messy. It's as if Herzfeld had a bunch of solid pieces to a puzzle- some of them are great- but he's not able to fit them together into a truly coherent picture. The end result feels somehow less than the sum of its parts. What sticks out in my mind isn't so much the film's strengths, but the shortcomings that prevent it from reaching its potential.

The cast is obviously the big selling point. There are some very effective performances from the cast, although it's not universally strong. The movie starts out with Teri Hatcher and it's worse for it. I think Hatcher is generally a decent actress, but she doesn't seem very good here. Her performance is forced and hard to believe. It starts the film off on a bad foot and continues throughout the remainder of her scenes. I loved seeing Jeff Daniels here and we get a few solid moments with him. His character feels too relegated to the sidelines and unessential to the plot. Daniels is a good actor and gives a worthwhile performance, but it ultimately feels like it doesn't make the impact it should. Danny Aiello, on the other hand, is terrific. Aiello is your classic character actor. I didn't expect or anticipate his performance would be my favorite of the film. He takes a character that could have been an afterthought and adds real depth and feeling to the performance. Aiello has certainly done this before- he's quite a talented actor. Even still, I wasn't prepared for how good he would be. He's a big reason why this movie almost works. Charlize Theron is great, too. This only her third on screen performance and the world didn't know the range and skill she had as an actress yet. Her role is certainly memorable in the film (due to her performance), but you also feel a bit frustrated that she didn't have more to do. Still, Theron is a big plus for this film. James Spader is, too. I like Spader and he excels in these seedy, complex roles. There's very little to like about his character here, yet you kind of like him anyway. Spader was able to achieve that with his subtly charismatic performance that draws you in. Eric Stoltz felt a bit out of place- much of the rest of the cast are more talented than him. He never lets that stop him and he actually emerges as a positive for the film. I thought he was mostly effective in this role. Keith Carradine and Louise Fletcher added solid supporting performances, too. As a whole, the cast is definitely a plus for the film.

Where the film falls apart a bit is with the telling of the story. We have all these individual characters and it's fun to see how their lives intersect- whether that's through choice or through twists of fate. Some of these exchanges are excellent and compelling. Some of them seem to drag on. There's a sense that some of the pieces of the puzzle didn't actually go together, but Herzfeld shoves them together anyway. It results in a story that more or less makes sense in the end, but it's not the viewing experience we wanted. From a character perspective, they are memorable more than anything. However, as their flaws are on full display, we don't quite get a chance to make the emotional connection with them that we need to. This obviously hurts the movie, especially towards the end when the climax ends up feeling somewhat unsatisfying. There might have been a way to satisfactorily tied up all the stories together, but this wasn't the way to do it.

Looking at this film in its totality, 2 Days in the Valley is certainly a decent film. It has some strong moments throughout, a nice mix of crime, action, and comedy. It puts forth a strong cast and we get more than a few worthwhile performances. However, the individual pieces don't come together as cohesively as we'd like. That makes the movie decent, yet still a ways away from being good.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Pulp Fiction, 15 Minutes, Slow Burn