| DOWN IN THE VALLEY |
 2006 - USADirector: David Jacobson
- Reviewed by Vickie
Written and directed by David Jacobson, whose most notable credit before this was the film Dahmer, the story centers on Harlan (Edward Norton), an amiable, aw-shucks country-bumpkin type who works at a gas station in California’s San Fernando Valley. He’s the kind of sweetly naïve guy who says what’s in his heart, tips his hat to a pretty lady and calls her “ma’am” out of courtesy. One day, a carload of rowdy teens pulls in for a fill-up, and Harlan lays eyes on Tobe (Evan Rachel Wood), an antsy, rebellious girl, who lives with her wide-eyed younger brother, Lonny (Rory Culkin), and their gruff, corrections-officer stepfather, Wade (David Morse). There’s an immediate connection between Tobe and Harlan. She falls for his gentle demeanor and he’s smitten with her, hook, line and sinker. The duo’s first “date” to the beach ends in sex. They’re hooked on each other despite an obvious age difference and the fact that, you know, what they’re doing might just be illegal. But Wade’s suspicious of Harlan. Where’d he come from? Why’s he hanging around with a teenage girl? What’s his angle? Convinced Harlan’s a con man of some sort—or, at the very least, just lying through his teeth for as-yet-undetermined reasons—after a run-in with police, Wade forbids Tobe from seeing him. And we all know how productive that little ultimatum’s gonna be, right? Thing is, we (the audience) know that Wade, despite his questionable parenting skills, is onto something. From the film’s opening scene, where a mustachioed Harlan looks out somewhat menacingly over the freeway, there’s a very distinct sense that somethin’ ain’t right. Wade also slips in and out of his South Dakota accent depending on where he is and with whom he’s speaking. Hmmm. Curious. He plays pretend games of what seems to be cowboys and Indians in his fleabag apartment, much to the dismay of his exasperated neighbors. He’s an expert marksman and knows a LOT about guns, shooting and the world of firearms. The fact that Harlan is also being played by Edward Norton, who knows of creating deceptively innocent characters (see: Primal Fear), only serves to reinforce that weird foreboding feeling. It’s not too long before the truth rears its head and comes spilling out in predictable ways. All of this is fine and good and appealing. The film’s first hour and 20 minutes are riveting, as we wait to find out what’s really going on and how soon everyone else in the movie will realize the danger that lurks around every corner. But then, it crumbles. It becomes a chase movie, with one shoot-‘em-up scene after another. Gone is the methodical pacing and well-crafted tension. Instead, we get what could have been one five-minute scene dragged out to almost half-an-hour and stretched over several scenes in several locations, none of which are particularly imaginative. Why? Did the film really need to be two hours long? Couldn’t they have shaved off some of that final third? Edward Norton has taken great pride in explaining how he selected this film, and how he worked with Jacobsen for six months to finesse the screenplay. Norton has a reputation for being an outspoken actor with distinct ideas, sometimes even coming into conflict with his directors as a result, and that’s fine. But, in this case, I have to wonder if his involvement in the screenwriting and producing process may have clouded his judgment in terms of cutting the final product down to a tighter, more concise size. Dunno. |
| Home | Currently Playing | For Rent | Video Obsession ©2006 Moviepie e-mail us |
Down in the Valley is one of those slow-moving, atmospheric
character studies that builds its tension slowly and lets the truth
seep out gradually for both the folks onscreen and those of us sitting
in the audience. That’s good. I like that kind of thing. But it’s also
one of those movies that falls apart in its final 30 minutes or so,
dragging out its action and not ending at the clear-as-a-bell moment
that would have been perfect. Too bad. I don’t much like that kind of
thing.
