2 Days in the Valley isn’t a great interconnected ensemble drama but certainly watchable and at the very least you get to see Charlize Theron in a very early role in her career.
2 Days in the Valley
(1996)
Genre(s): Comedy, Crime
Kino Lorber| R – 105 min. – $29.95 | November 14, 2023
Date Published: 01/28/2024 | Author: The Movieman
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Kino Lorber provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Take one wrong turn in life and who knows where you’ll end up. For Becky (TERI HATCHER), it’s waking up next to her murdered ex-husband. For Teddy (PAUL MAZURSKY), it’s the tail end of a failed film career. For Allan (PETER HORTON) it’s being kidnapped by a crazy toupee-wearing Italian hit man (DANNY AIELLO). For Lee and Helga (JAMES SPADER, CHARLIZE THERON) its letting that hit man get away alive. And for Wes and Alvin (ERIC STOLTZ, JEFF DANIELS), two undercover cops cruising the valley for crime, it’s just another day…where everything goes wrong. 2 Days in the Valley. You’ll live longer…anywhere else. Quick Hit Review: 2 Days in the Valley is an interconnected ensemble drama that has a nice stacked cast for sure and under the direction and screenplay from John Herzfeld (15 Minutes, Escape Plan: The Extractors) and should have been a fun flick. Instead it’s a perfectly fine drama and watchable but nothing terribly special outside of the performances from James Spader as a sociopathic killer and Charlize Theron in her feature film debut playing his equally psychotic girlfriend. That said, Danny Aiello and Jeff Daniels acquit themselves well enough. All of that said, I didn’t really find a whole to be engaging even with some of the quirkier scenes. However, it’s at least worth checking out especially if you’re Charlize Theron fan as she bares all. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 3¾/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and the inside artwork is reversible. Features include an Audio Commentary by Writer/Director John Herzfeld; an engaging Conversation () with Sylvester Stallone and Herzfled; a Q&A at Cinefamily with Charlize Theron, Glenne Headly, Herzfeld and others; an archival featurette with The Making of 2 Days in Valley () and last are B-Rolls and Soundbites. |
VIDEO – 4¼/5 |
| Kino Lorber releases 2 Days in the Valle onto Blu-ray with a new HD master taking from a 4K scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative. For the most part is a good looking transfer, the 1080p high-definition transfer has a good color array with the setting while the detail is sharp enough. The natural film grain is still present so it doesn’t appear any processing was done on the backend. |
AUDIO – 4/5 |
| The disc includes both a 5.1 and 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio tracks, the former being the default option. Dialogue comes across with good clarity and there is decent if not also unexceptional depth though there aren’t very many action-packed scenes, however the rear speakers do get some usage for the score and some ambient noises. |
OVERALL – 3½/5 |
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2 Days in the Valley isn’t a great interconnected ensemble drama but certainly watchable and at the very least you get to see Charlize Theron in a very early role in her career. The Blu-ray from Kino Lorber offers up a good selection of features alongside respectable audio and video transfers. |