‘In a Valley of Violence’ Review: John Travolta and Ethan Hawke Square Off in the Old West
Indie director Ti West (“The House of the Devil”) brings the violence to this Western, all right, but it finds its tone far too late
There’s plenty of bloodshed to go around in Ti West‘s retrofitted western: hand-to-hand combat, cheap shots to the jugular, elongated shootouts, knife fights.
The dispensing of bodies — both humans and animals alike — contain almost zero dramatic weight.
Nomad Paul (Ethan Hawke), accompanied by his dog Abbie (Jumpy), walks into a dusty saloon filled with cigarette smoke and small talk.
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Hey fellas,” says Gilly (James Ransone, “Sinister”), “I don’t think this bum knows where he is.
On the other, some folks — like Gilly’s girlfriend, Mary-Ann (Taissa Farmiga, “American Horror Story”), who takes an interest in Paul — are tired of Gilly’s dangerous bullying and his tendency to control people by any means necessary.
Even the mystery of Paul’s checkered backstory remains intact, and enticing, but only to a certain point.
By minute 45, “In a Valley of Violence” could conclude and just exist as a satisfying short film fueled by a violent outburst.
[...] the movie resides in this drab grey area for awhile.
West wants to make a traditional western that simultaneously upends the power dynamic of John Ford films, while, also, somehow, poking fun at the movies he’s paying homage to.
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.
Throughout the final breath of this movie, West is humorously commenting on the futility of this conflict and the cowardice of its participants — the inherent pointlessness of murder driven by hubris.