In a Valley of Violence

If you are a fan of classic Westerns, you'll find yourself glued to the screen enjoying every minute of this film.

Disclosure: I am 62 years old as I write this, so I've seen 'em all. And watching this one, I couldn't help feel like it was 1967, or thereabouts, what with the steady camera-work, the superb cinematography capturing all the dusty glory of New Mexico, U.S.A.

And the soundtrack! Not some canned muzak, not some minimalist guitar scratchings, but a full-blown beauty of a musical composition that took me right back to the Spaghetti classics.

Now, this won't win an Oscar, but dang if it didn't make my Friday night popcorn and beer movie night.

"In A Valley of Violence" is a total winner. p.s....the dog is an unbelievably good actor.

Paul (Ethan Hawke) is a cowboy who travels with the only company of his dog Abbie. In an attempt to shorten the path that will take them to Mexico, the gunslinger and his dog make a stop in a small, apparently quiet town, where they meet some outlaws and the son -Gilly (James Ransone)- of the sheriff (John Travolta) with whom he has a turbulent conflict. Taking place a threatening confrontation, and in order to avoid greater evils, they decide to leave the place immediately. Keep Your Finger on the Trigger !.

Ti West directs this peculiar western that includes: vengeance, shootings, desert dust, corruption and bloody showdown. The film is made in somewhat similar style to typical spaghetti Westerns with usual theme: a merciless vendetta. Dealing with a mysterious stranger and a random act of violence drag a town of misfits and nitwits into the lethal crosshairs of revenge. Well crafted Western with interesting screenplay; though we had already seen the main issue of the film before and better in other movies. The story is almost terrific as the drifter comes to strange town just in time to reckoning villagers and bandits. Although atmospheric, it's also downbeat and sometimes just downright nasty. This violent picture contains a powerful examination of morality and hypocrisy on people of a little town. The film owes a considerable debt to ¨Clint Eastwood's High Plain Drifter¨ (which was a kind of remake to ¨Sergio Garrone's The Strangers Gundown¨) taking several elements from this film, as well as Sergio Leone's others.

And a good cast of actors led by Ethan Hawke and John Travolta, who play the stranger with a tragic past and the villainous marshall who becomes a peacekeeper. As the story progresses, providing its characters with all the characteristic elements of the genre. They are accompanied by two beautiful women, previously promising figures and today sufficiently established: Taissa Farmiga and Karen Gillan.

Director Ti West frecuently uses focus on the faces and bodies of our protagonists to show the despair and unsettling happenings, adding brilliant cinematography by cameraman Eric Robbins , suspenseful musical score by Jeff Grace and eliptical edition. The film could be described as a figurative immersion into the meanderings of the starring's vengeful psyche. The motion picture was well written/produced/directed by Ti West. He is a notorious writer and director known for "Pearl" (2022), "X" (2022) and "The Innkeepers" (2011). And also directed "Cabin fever 2: The spring fever" (2009) but after extensive re-editing and re-shooting of by the producers of this film, West requested to have his name removed from the movie and replaced with the popular pseudonym Alan Smithee; since he was not a member of the DGA his request was denied by the producers and he remains credited as the film's director. And he has directed several episodes of notorious television series, such as: ¨Wayward Pines¨, ¨Scream¨,¨Soundtrack¨, The Resident¨, ¨Chambers¨, ¨The passage¨, ¨The Exorcist¨, ¨Outcast¨, ¨South of Hell¨. ¨In a Valley of Violence¨rating : 6/10. The flick will appeal Western genre enthusiasts and Ethan Hawke fans.

At least "In a Valley of Violence" is not as agonizingly predictable as the director's previous waste of time. I am someone who believes that a movie without one single moment you can't see coming after reading a one sentence, or even one word, description of the plot, is a movie you have no reason to watch.

How is it that you know the name Ti West? A guy whose movies are as formulaic as these should be directing episodes of Big Bang Theory. But he does do them well, and gives his superior actors room to breathe. The problem is that he "writes" these movies himself - if you can call stringing a bunch of clichés together "writing".

This is a movie that is so predictable that you don't notice the genre clichés that would have rubbed you wrong in a better movie, i.e.. the main character being the typical hard-bitten and reluctant hero type who doesn't say much, who never intended to draw steel but ended up being forced to. And how about the town being basically just two rows of houses with a "main street" running down the middle? Is there a "saloon" with rooms to rent upstairs? How about a plucky young heroine who dreams of escape and thinks the hero might be her ticket out? He doesn't take her at first. Of course.

No, it was the smaller details that rubbed me wrong. For example: before killing his first victim, why does the typically terse hero suddenly become insanely verbose, rabbiting on like someone who has truly lost control of himself? What was the point of the speech where he outlines exactly what he's doing as if it wasn't already completely obvious, not only to the audience, but also the victim? A less trite storyline might have needed an exposition dump here. Here it's just distracting and unnecessary. And when the bad guy has the plucky heroine up against the wall with a gun to her throat, and he begins threatening her, what does she do next? Her response is engraved in stone, alongside the "all towns in Westerns are just two rows of houses with a street down the middle" rule, in a tablet enshrined in the Screenwriters' Guild bathroom.

When the camera focused on the heroine's determined eyes in the climax, I cringed. This is West relying not only on cliché, but on the trend of the day: girl power.

Having read this far, you might wonder why I didn't give the film a lower rating. The answer is that for all the predictability, "In a Valley of Violence" has actors who you can't help watching and rooting for, especially Taissa Farmiga, one of the best young actors in the world, who gives this tired material more energy than it deserves.

In a Valley of Violence follows a travelling cowboy who, after stopping by a small town, unintentionally starts conflict among the more powerful members there.

Let's start with the obvious part: Ethan Hawke. He's fantastic, as per usual. I don't think I've ever not been impressed by this guy, and that trend continues here. John Travolta pulls off a solid performance as well, playing one of the most interesting characters in the movie. And James Ransone does the same, pulling off a good ol' western hothead. Personally I don't think that Taissa Farmiga was very fit for this role, but she did her best and thankfully fails to take anything of significance away from the movie.

The writing is good as well. The movie builds the characters and conflict for a while before anything of real significance happens, and it makes it all the more effective. It excels at building tension, making the last 40 minutes of this movie just that much better.

Speaking of the last 40 minutes, they're awesome. After an hour of solid build up, we are treated with some great western action. It's tense and exciting, yet not over-the-top. It's just right.

Overall I really enjoyed In a Valley of Violence. The acting, writing, and action are all great, and in the end I would definitely recommend it.

What a lousy B movie. The screenplay could never be worse. The scenario and the plot both failed miserably. The dialog also felt wooden and unnatural. The characters in it all looked funny and out of place. There's nothing you could help making this movie even worth paying more attention. Two young women wearing nicely custom made dresses in a middle of nowhere deserted town, running a hotel without any help? The whole on-going of the story simply felt hollow and awkward to watch, panned out to nowhere. The gunfight in the street looked even more funny than you'd have usually seen. A cartoon-like preacher is totally unnecessary. A run-down dead town with population under 20 still got a grocery store, a bar, a hotel, and the males were all white trash thugs reigned by a crippled Marshall...blah, blah and blah.

I have to tell you guys that this movie still worth watching. The only reason is that GREAT DOG. It's a SHE if you buy those guys in the movie called it. Her acting was so great and would even make a not-a-dog-loving guy like me fall in love with her. The dog's I.Q. obviously is higher than 60% of the human population on this planet. What a great dog!!!! Other than the dog, there's nothing worth watching in this movie. This dog was the only shinning and bright spot in it.