Updated: 23 August 1997

2 DAYS IN THE VALLEY

A very well-stylized movie, with several good beginnings, at least one good middle, and one good end. Only the good parts don't all belong to the same storylines, so it becomes a do-it- yourself project if you're going to get anything out of the movie.

The movie works at being odd. You can feel it reaching for a PULP FICTION sort of carelessness--no that's not it--rather, a callousness towards these mortal moments in the lives of its victims...er, characters. Would that someone else would step forward to say that PULP FICTION is not a movie worth emulating.

You can also feel it reaching in other ways. Its plot twists don't leave you dazzled so much as dazed. Dazed in an "oh, puh-leeez" or "yeah right" sort of stupor...sometimes. There are a few genuinely eyebrow-raising moments. Too often, though, too many pieces fit together too neatly. This can be done well, but in a case where the pieces seem to exist only to fit together neatly, you feel cheated. Clever plot twists cease being interesting if their only significance lies in being clever plot twists, and nothing more.

Now, to be honest, there were many things I definitely liked about this film. It has a wonderful cast. And among the many things it strives for are several insights into honor, trust, & sacrifice.

Those are good things, and the film handles some of them well.

The cast. Danny Aiello is very good in a role that nevertheless can't be taken too seriously, or its cliched nature will begin to grate. He is a hit-man--Dosmo Pizzo (scared to death of dogs) who, while escaping the scene of an explosion, is forced to take hostages: one whiny and prissily imperious Allan Hopper, and Allan's secretary, Susan Parish. His is an old-world mafia hit-man, and he shows the Susan a thing or two about courtesy and gentlemanly behavior as they begin to fall for one another. Time after time, the scenes involving those two come this close to being actually great. But the as stereotypes reassert themselves, the scenes are robbed of full realization. I felt I had seen them before. The girl falls for the "bad guy" because he is actually a creature of honor--a real man, unlike the hollow shells of law-abiding men she has thus far known.

Marsha Mason pops up, surprisingly, in one of the few storylines that--though it has a mish- mashed introduction, nevertheless follows up with some intriguing development. A director at the end of his rope, sans self-worth, is preparing to take his life when the rest of the films bizarre events and bizarre characters spring innocently into his path in the form of a grieving Marsha. He and she share a quick, and--thanks to the skill of the two actors involved--nuanced, few moments of dialogue and start out on a road that will take them quite out of the routine before it is done.

One of the most disappointing stories involves Jeff Daniels and Eric Stoltz as two detectives who are at odds with one another. In particular, the unwise decision was made to develop the Jeff Daniels character to the point of needing a resolution that never occurs. His story just ends abruptly, and the movie ends with that particular string of plot dangling messily from the knot of the film's denouement.

Likewise, Eric Stoltz's storyline seems to grow aimlessly--and needlessly--for the sole purpose of having him present at the climax of the show.

Finally, there is the story that provides a background for all of these developing relationships. Teri Hatcher is a one-time Olympian who wakes up dead next to her estranged husband. Sound confusing? The culprit is assassin and psychopath Lee Woods (James Spader, in the kind of role he does disturbingly well), assisted by the aforementioned Aiello. Rounding out the cast is Charlize Theron as Helga, a role straight out of James Bond. Hers is one of the effective "endings."

The show was written by John Herzfeld. It needs work, but has some very good ideas. While he doesn't have a great grip on the nuances of character and the internal workings of scenes, he does have some nice structural touches. Or maybe that was the editing. One never knows nowadays.

Also of note is the soundtrack. Turn it down, someone, please. The music rushes over you so loudly that you can feel the advertisement coming on videocassette: "SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE IN A MUSIC STORE NEAR YOU!"

If you're in a weirdly off-the-beaten-track and, yes, violent mood, rent this. Odd but-- sometimes--effective.