2 Days in the Valley (1996) 6.4
48 hours of intersecting lives and crimes in Los Angeles. Director:John HerzfeldWriter:John Herzfeld |
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2 Days in the Valley (1996) 6.4
48 hours of intersecting lives and crimes in Los Angeles. Director:John HerzfeldWriter:John Herzfeld |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Danny Aiello | ... | ||
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Greg Cruttwell | ... | |
| Jeff Daniels | ... | ||
| Teri Hatcher | ... |
Becky Foxx
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| Glenne Headly | ... |
Susan Parish
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| Peter Horton | ... |
Roy Foxx
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| Marsha Mason | ... |
Audrey Hopper
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| Paul Mazursky | ... |
Teddy Peppers
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| James Spader | ... | ||
| Eric Stoltz | ... | ||
| Charlize Theron | ... | ||
| Keith Carradine | ... |
Detective Creighton
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| Louise Fletcher | ... |
Evelyn
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| Austin Pendleton | ... |
Ralph Crupi
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Kathleen Luong | ... |
Midori
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John Herzfeld deftly welds together a multitude of subplots-- a loser hitman and a cool assassin involved in an insurance scam; a washed-up director, turned suicidal, if only he had someone to care for his beloved dog; a snooty art dealer, wracked by kidney stones, cared for by his devoted assistant; a grungy deranged vice cop, now partnered with a fresh-faced rookie; and two beautiful and jealous women entangled in their deadly scheme--into a spoof of the crime thriller genre. Written by Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
Pulp Fiction paved the way for a wave of clones, many of which are pretty awful (The Way of the Gun, Love and a .45). This movie is one of the better ones. All performances are excellent, especially Paul Mazursky, Danny Aiello and Jeff Daniels (playing against type as a real jerk of a cop). Fans of the "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" game can get a real kick out of the cast of this movie--Aiello and Daniels appeared in Purple Rose of Cairo together; Eric Stoltz and James Spader appeared in that Sean Cunningham opus THE NEW KIDS together, etc. But the movie is very entertaining on its own merit. Not really a thriller, not really a comedy....just a bizarre character-driven piece with some memorable characters.
The director went on to the overblown and ridiculous 15 Minutes, which contained none of the offbeat charm of this movie. Interesting cinematography as well. Not a bad way to spend 90 minutes.