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Down in the Valley (2005)

tomatometer

51

Average Rating: 6/10
Reviews Counted: 101
Fresh: 52 | Rotten: 49

The premise of Old West clashing with modern suburbia is fresh and initially intriguing, but the second act degenerates into a clumsy jumble of events which strain credibility.

44

Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 32
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 18

The premise of Old West clashing with modern suburbia is fresh and initially intriguing, but the second act degenerates into a clumsy jumble of events which strain credibility.

audience

46

liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 38,470

My Rating

Movie Info

A romance between a teenage girl and a thirtysomething drifter takes the young woman down a dangerous and unexpected path in this independent drama. Tobe (Evan Rachel Wood) is a pretty 18-year-old whose father, Wade (David Morse), is the sheriff of a town in California's San Fernando Valley. Tobe is driving to the beach with some friends when she stops at a filling station and meets gas jockey Harlan (Edward Norton), who dresses like a cowpoke and claims to have recently relocated to Los Angeles

R, 2 hr. 5 min.

Western, Drama

David Jacobson

Sep 26, 2006

$0.4M

ThinkFilm

Cast

All Critics (106) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (51) | DVD (11)

Both actors work hard to give this disturbing crime story some flavor and substance, but the narrative is overextended and poorly organized.

December 18, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It aims to be a Badlands for a new generation. It's closer to The O.C. with horses.

June 23, 2006 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | Comment
Orlando Sentinel
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Even if this drama from David Jacobson can't quite cover all the territory the director-writer is looking to survey, it still's one of the most original movies in a long time.

June 2, 2006 Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | Comment
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Jacobson kicks up a lot of dust here, but as it begins to settle, the movie becomes more and more muddled.

June 2, 2006 Comment
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Norton sells it, as far as all of this can possibly go. Even if you doubt some of the action, you never doubt the existence of Harlan, a man out of time and out of options.

June 2, 2006 Full Review Source: Denver Post | Comment
Denver Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

With a distant yet affecting performance, Norton (Fight Club, The Italian Job) reminds us why he's often considered among the best American actors, right alongside Sean Penn.

June 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | Comment
Arizona Republic
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Podría verse como un thriller psicológico, un drama familiar, o como un western moderno; en realidad, tiene un poco de las tres cosas.

November 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total | Comment
Uruguay Total

Jacobson examines the life and death of the western and its incompatibility with the youth of today ... a fascinating, yet slightly off-balance, mix of tribute and scrutiny.

September 18, 2007 Full Review Source: Cinematical | Comment
Cinematical

The values of past and present collide in this beautifully shot, finely acted reexamination of the American Dream.

June 13, 2007 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

A tale which, apart from its basic conceptual kinship to classic western films, is wholly original and deeply prescient about the darker shoals of human nature.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

Nerve-less.

February 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | Comment
Film Freak Central

When the story disintegrates into the gunfight at the 'I'm-not-okay-corral', it totally loses anything it had going for it.

January 21, 2007 Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | Comment

A cautionary tale about the dangers of casual sex, or even casual friendships with strangers.

January 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | Comment
Laramie Movie Scope

The more you know about it the less likable it becomes.

December 6, 2006 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

...there are those riveting performances by Norton, Wood, Morse, and Culkin that almost help save the day. Too bad the day was such a downer.

September 25, 2006 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

The movie does not waste the performances, but the screenplay could have served them better.

September 25, 2006 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood turn in strong lead performances, but their talent alone isn't enough to set David Jacobson's sun-bleached, modern-day Western on fire.

August 31, 2006 Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | Comment
Hollywood.com

A ludicrous, would-be Western hybrid.

July 14, 2006 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | Comment
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

It spins out of control despite the best efforts of Norton.

July 13, 2006 Full Review | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Down in the Valley

Down in the Valley is a bit of a jumble, switching tones and genres quickly from the first to second half, but I'm still glad I watched it. The performances by all of the main actors, especially Norton, are pitch perfect and make this movie better than it probably is. The first half is the good half, building up a

January 15, 2010
jlewis07

Super Reviewer

Down in The Valley What a great film...very layered and subtle. It is beautifully shot and the four main characters are original and yet painfully familiar in their alienation, anger, and despair. The Cowboy character played by Edward Norton (who is amazing) seems so simple at first but as he is drawn into the family

October 29, 2009
matertenebraum

Super Reviewer

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