X
- 2016
- R
- Focus World
- 1 h 44 m
- 2016
- R
- Focus World
- 1 h 44 m
Summary A mysterious drifter named Paul (Ethan Hawke) and his dog Abbie (Jumpy) make their way towards Mexico through the barren desert of the old west. In an attempt to shorten their journey they cut through the center of a large valley - landing themselves in the forgotten town of Denton - a place now dubbed by locals as a "valley of violence....
- 2016
- R
- Focus World
- 1 h 44 m
- 2016
- R
- Focus World
- 1 h 44 m
In a Valley of Violence
64
6.6
Where to Watch
Summary A mysterious drifter named Paul (Ethan Hawke) and his dog Abbie (Jumpy) make their way towards Mexico through the barren desert of the old west. In an attempt to shorten their journey they cut through the center of a large valley - landing themselves in the forgotten town of Denton - a place now dubbed by locals as a "valley of violence....
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
64
55% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
40% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 Critic Reviews
64
55% Positive
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
40% Mixed
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
5% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
The film communicates a sporadic sense of violation—of pastiche unpredictably giving way to a raw and primordially intimate emotional realm.
Suffice to say, this departure from West’s usual run of seriously freaky spook shows is a brilliant piece of work, cordite-scented sorrow, and last-laugh gags stabbed through with a discernible lust for life.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 59 User Ratings
6.6
56% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
34% Mixed
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
10% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 59 User Ratings
6.6
56% Positive
33 Ratings
33 Ratings
34% Mixed
20 Ratings
20 Ratings
10% Negative
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
I disagree with those that say it is cliche.
It is low-key style-wise, simple, and same for the acting, but it works and I didn't guess the ending.
Kind of a nice little romance built in and I liked the female lead -- sweet and kind of plain, but in an attractive way. Ethan Hawke has grown on me in recent years, he was kind of over the top and annoying in his youth, but not now; this Western role fits him pretty well, a reluctant hero.
So few Westerns these days (at least without Aliens!) -- grading on the curve this is an 8 or 9.
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With an enjoyable atmosphere, solid performances from Hawke, Travolta, Farmiga, and one gifted canine, In A Valley of Violence ends up a solid entry in a genre gradually fading from mainstream cinema.
Ultimately, In a Valley of Violence thrives is in its final 20 minutes. In one of the more impressive sudden upticks in quality by a film in 2016, West seems to finally figure out what kind of a movie he wanted to make: a comedy. The concluding combat sequences are occupied by physical and witty gags.
As the violence escalates, an absurdist dose of humor is added to the mix, injecting the film with a distinctly modern sensibility that is welcome and does not let up.
In a Valley of Violence feigns to be a revisionist western, but it’s frustratingly stuck in a place of inevitability in the last half. It’s an excellently-made imitation, but coming from a director whose made a career of tilting the familiar, it’s a disappointing detour.
Writer-director Ti West brings not an iota of originality to his handling of this material. Plods, the picture does, through its predictable paces.
I suppose "entry level" is a term you could use in describing this one. All the western boxes are ticked. Drifter protagonist? Check. Dusty desert town with crooked law enforcement? Check. Saloons, jailhouses & general stores? That's three checks, right there. You can even check off the "snake oil salesman" box for this flick as well. So, what honestly moved the needle for me when it came to "In A Valley Of Violence?" Well, it's a spoiler that I won't get into, but I'll say it's a narrative enhancement maneuver that a very recent and very profitable film franchise has basically trademarked. It's essentially the "ol' reliable" of making the audience's investment in your story spike almost exponentially. And, yes, as soon as "it" happened, I was right there, ready for what the rest of the movie was most likely going to give me. Blood, vengeance and a lot of snarling Ethan Hawke. What can I say? It's simple, satisfying fun.
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And the Academy Award for Good Dog goes to....JUMPY. If you watch that video of him on Youtube, you can see everything he does in this movie, but with his owner and years before this movie. It also has the added benefit of sparing you watch him be killed by a real **** Do not worry though, Ethan Hawke killed the **** out of that dude, which is the good news. Bad news though, the dog does die in the movie. Why must movies kill these good dogs? Apparently Jumpy's trainer is the same one that trained Uggie from The Artist, so you know that this dog knows what he is doing. Director Ti West respectfully takes a step back and allows the film to celebrate Jumpy's talents with him biting a priest, leading a horse, tucking himself into bed, and covering his eyes like a good dog are the true highlights of this film. No shame either: I skipped over the parts with Jumpy being written out of the film. I knew he was going to meet his demise and that Ethan Hawke would go brutalize the men that did it, so no need to watch Ti West drag that scene out far longer than needed (it is actually a few minutes long; Jumpy gets shot and then the really bad guy breaks out a knife after speaking to Hawke with Jumpy whimpering for like three minutes, so I skipped it at that point and realized I did not want to know what happened). Regardless, Jumpy is the real star of this film. Everything is just done to give him a platform to bigger and better productions, so for that, In a Valley of Violence is entirely worth it. Otherwise, it is just a solid film from Ti West.
A spaghetti western throwback with the plot line of John Wick, it is clear that Ti West likes Sergio Leone. The score is very Morricone, but worse. The introductions and font type at the end are very Leone. The introduction of this stranger rolling into town is very Leone. Only problem: he has a name, which is Paul (Hawke). He also talks way too much. That said, West does a relatively decent job of bringing the same sort of style to the film in this relatively straight forward update of a spaghetti western. Infusing it with comedy and graphic violence, West puts his stamp on the proceedings enough to make it more than just a straight stylistic rip-off.
As Abbie's (Jumpy) human, Ethan Hawke turns in a typically solid performance. He just goes around hanging out with Abbie and killing dudes who kill Abbie, so he does not do much here, but the guy sure can kill people. In all seriousness, Hawke is a very good everyman actor and this really shines through here as we quickly relate to his problems and past as a cliched Indian killer in Oklahoma or Kansas for the military. He has regrets and does not want to kill anymore like every other western protagonist, but by God, you cannot kill a man's dog and expect to continue breathing. I know if anybody touched my dog, I'd rip their throat out and make them swallow it. Now, that may go poorly since they would no longer have a throat, but the imagery is quite powerful I'd say.
Other than Hawke, John Travolta is fine and leads the way for the rest of the cast. He plays the Marshal who is the father of a stupid son who, along with the other deputies, killed Abbie. Travolta's Marshal tried to get them to leave Paul alone, but could not. He is a decent man who may have risen to power in the town of Denton by force, but is hardly an evil man. His son, however, is real trash. Watching him get the **** beat out of him with a boot was oddly satisfying. James Ransone overacts as the despicable Gilly a bit, but he is still solid. As the only other characters with any semblance of lines, Taissa Farmiga and Karen Gillan are really bad. Either their dialogue was awful, which it was, or they were just bad, but their confused delivery of lines seem to indicate it is little bit of column A and a bit of column B. Regardless, their characters were bad and they were bad in the roles.
Largely a cliche and run-of-the-mill western, Ti West has some fun, but never wows here. The film definitely thrills and entertains though, but it is ultimately a film that is largely just an above average nostalgia film. West clearly has some good instincts with the genre though so I would love to see him try to be less derivative next time he works in the genre, if he does. He is a guy that critics seem to like, but audiences hate and I have no idea why. His films, from what I have seen, are largely quite palatable and straight forward. This is just a genre film that is pretty harmless, yet some viewers seem to think it is absolute garbage. It is a well made, largely well acted, and thoroughly entertaining western. It is slow, yes, but all westerns are slow. Did y'all pop this in and expect Fast and Furious or something?
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Another shocking example of why directors should not be screen writers. They have no one to say "That doesn't work". Ti West's dialogue is cliched and laughable in this boring and predictable western. Although Hawke and Travolta did their best with the turgid material, how on earth do fools like James Ransone get these jobs? His acting was pitiful. A waste of time and money. This took $61k at the box office. I bet they asked for a refund.
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