"Go ahead...shoot me."      

2 DAYS IN THE VALLEY (R) 

2 Days In The Valley has been accused of being a Pulp Fiction ripoff, and it does indeed contain many similar elements.  A cast of quirky characters, a plotline that jumps from place to place, and lots of attitude will greet you in this Valley, and all in all it's a very entertaining ride. Starring Danny Aiello, James Spader, Eric Stoltz, Teri Hatcher, Jeff Daniels, Glenn Headly, and Charlize Theron among others, 2 Days is a voilent, sexy, stylish, and always surprising story of people with questionable character in unbelievable circumstances.  It's a movie where killers kill and get killed, kidnappers get kidnapped, bad guys become good guys, and where just about everybody carries a gun.  It's three, or four, or five (I lost count) independent storylines that somehow manage to come together as the movie progresses, with each combination resulting in a volatile mixture that either brings love, or death, or both.  For their parts, all the actors in this movie were wonderful in their roles, making the movie all that much easier to recommend.  If you don't get offended by sex and violence and death, then go see this movie.  If you do get offended by these things, then consider yourself warned, but consider going for the fine performances and generally excellent execution of this film.

IMPRESSIONS

Back to the Pulp Fiction comparison: I suppose I'll never hear the end of it for my personal dislike of Pulp Fiction.  I didn't like Pulp Fiction when I first saw it, and I still don't like it.  How I can dislike Pulp Fiction and then recommend a movie that's supposedly its "ripoff" is pretty simple for me...I liked 2 Days better.

Responses from cyberspace -- thanks for the input, folks!

shwarren@colby.edu gives this movie  star: "Should have known from your review this movie gets a big raspberry. It was exactly as you said, everyone carrying guns, killing everyone, and so violent, I could hardly rate it "sexy" in the same sentence." (11/26/96)