2 Days in the Valley(1996)- User Reviews

A sort of late 90's crime noir version of Crash with plenty of levity, great performances from an outstanding cast and a good old fashioned story with no hype or extra pazazz. This is a bare bones intersecting crime thriller, bringing various characters who ordinarily wouldn't mix together to embark on a violence filled mini-journey. I won't get into the plot because it can be complicated in theory but in essence is quite simple. There's two-timing and backstabbing and lying. There's despair and there's humor. This movie moves a little too liesurely and doesn't feature much action but the dialogue is smart and the film is well written. The characters are fleshed out well and not at all one dimensional. The acting is superb. From Danny Aeillo's down on his luck, clumsy free-lance investigator (stalker, more like) or survalence expert if you prefer
to James Spader's cool and psychotic portrayal of a heartless killer. All of the performances are top notch. Two big stand outs are Paul Mazursky as a suicidally depressed former emmy winning producer and Jeff Daniels as an anguished cop who's just lost his job and his son and could be ready to lose his sanity as well. Eric Stoltz is good as his partner who wants so badly to be a homicide detective but isn't quite smart enough. Other actors include Teri Hatcher and a young, blonde femme fatale portrayed by a well cast Charlize Theron. The ensemble does good work here and the story holds up well with its equal doses of humor, suspense and action. Could've done with a little more excitement butI;m not complaining much. The sharp wit and fast paced dialogue is a treat and the experienced acting team knows how to pull it off. The show bwlongs mainly to spader though, who's slimy killer is his best creation ever. the ending is quick, abrupt, pat and contrived, however and everything gets wrapped up like the end of a Scooby Doo episode. But all that aside, give this indie a try andyou should enjoy it. For the most part, I did. Three Stars.