Ever since the mind-boggling success of “Pulp Fiction,” moviemaking has been given a whole new twist. Every new feature film tries to at least slightly emulate that film, and some are little more than remakes.
Such is the case with “2 Days In the Valley.” With a well-known, ensemble cast and subtle, quirky humor, I kept expecting one of the characters to comment on the French translation of a McDonalds sandwich.
While this movie did seem to be a shameless rip-off of “Pulp Fiction,” that isn’t quite as bad as I might make it sound. Aside from a couple of misplaced, wannabe tearjerking, dramatic moments, “2 Days” was throughly entertaining.
Perhaps its best quality was the unique “Fiction”-like style of humor. There weren’t more than a couple actual jokes in “2 Days,” but the bizarre dialogue and wacky physical humor kept me laughing for almost the entire show.
Also like “Pulp Fiction” was the excellent ensemble cast. No one in this movie will probably have the same career boom as John Travolta did, but the film won’t hurt anyone’s career, either.
Danny Aiello, Jeff Daniels, Teri Hatcher, Glenne Headley, James Spader, and Eric Stoltz were just some of the semi-big names in “2 Days;” the cast almost reads like a list of the best actors in Hollywood that don’t make very much money doing it.
It’s difficult to point to one actor that was most memorable in this film, but a few were prominent in making it entertaining.
Danny Aiello plays Tosmo, a washed-up Italian hit man who is afraid of dogs. After performing his duties for the bad guy (Lee, played by Spader), Lee tried to kill him, although Tosmo’s bulletproof vest prevented it. In an effort to protect himself, knowing that Lee and the cops will be after him, he takes a couple hostage.
Jeff Daniels plays Alvin, a washed-up cop that is obsessed with shutting down a massage parlor in his neighborhood that he thinks is selling more than just muscle relaxation. He and his partner (Eric Stoltz) enter the plot when they pick up Becky (Teri Hatcher) at the side of the road.
Becky was sleeping next to the guy that Tosmo killed when he was killed, and woke up to that realization in terror.
If this sounds even mildly coherent, I haven’t portrayed the movie very well. Until about 75 minutes into the film, very little of it made any sense, and only a little more did at the end.
But that made the movie as enjoyable as it was. With so many films whose climaxes can be predicted from a trailer, “2 Days in the Valley” was unpredictable up to the very end, and was all the better because of it.
Grade: B+