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Days in the Valley
Director:John Herzfeld
Screenplay:John Herzfeld
Starring:Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, Jeff Daniels, Teri Hatcher,
Gleanne Headly, Peter Horton, Marsha Mason, Paul Mazursky, James Spader, Eric Stoltz,
Charlize Theron (Yes quite the all-star cast)
John's Review
The film opens with two hitmen, Desmo (Aiello), an old-timer who's washed up, and Lee (Spader), a mellow sociopath, staking out the house where a notorious womanizer, Roy Foxx (Horton), is making the moves on his ex-wife, Becky (Hatcher). Desmo and Lee have a contract to kill Roy, but who's footing the bill? And, unbeknownst to Desmo, Lee is preparing a little surprise for him once the night's work is done.
Meanwhile, a wealthy art dealer, Allan Hopper (Cruttwell), suffering from an acute case of kidney stones, has to be rushed to the hospital. His personal assistant, Susan (Headly), who dolts on him, brings him home afterwards. To reward her for her loyalty over eight years of service, he offers to pay for breast implants and liposuction, which she has no interest in getting. Then there's the two vice cops, Alvin (Daniels) and Wes (Stoltz) who are staking out a Japanese massage parlor, intending to bust the employees for illegal sexual activities. However, when Wes goes inside to get a first-hand experience, he feels sorry for the girl who services him, and walks out without making an arrest. Alvin, who's a sociopath in his own right, is furious at his partner, who shows more interest in playing homicide detective than doing his job.
Finally, there's Teddy Peppers (Mazursky), the Emmy-Award winning director of Arthur's Last Hope. But that was a long time ago, and, since then, he's had nothing but bombs. His life is a wasteland and his finances are in disarray. So, after finding a woman (Mason) who's willing to find a new home for his beloved dog, he decides to end it all with a gun. Fate intercedes, however -- but not just in Teddy's life, but in everyones life in this film. In one way or another, the wheels of destiny bring all of these characters together, although not always at the same time and in the same place (oh, how convenient).
Confused yet? The movie only goes down hill from here. Everything become convoluted and the plot goes absolutely nowhere. I did not enjoy this film at all. I thought that everything was just too damn neat and tidy. Everything happens coincidentally to make one final outcome of the several different storylines. In the end everyone ends up with a significant other and all the bad guys die. Yay. This film was so predictable, un-fullfilling and un-funny for me that I felt sick to my stomach for wasting 3 bucks on the rental. If you want a good Pulp Fiction type film, then I suggest going back out and renting Pulp Fiction again.
Grade: D-
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