Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

highdesert420-685-360885 (No spoilers) Pretty simple and somewhat predictable story, could be summed up in a couple sentences. Ed Norton is fantastic as always, Evan Rachel Wood is always good too. Supporting cast are great actors, but minimally featured, with the focus mostly on the main actors, especially Ed Norton's character. The scenery is beautifully filmed, and the camera work is top notch. For such a simple movie with a small cast, it just works. Definitely worth a watch. One of Ed Norton's lesser known features.

Julius J When you see through his look full of lonesome sadness and disappointment as that concrete bridge with buzzing highway is nothing more than a soiled footprint imprinted at the out-crying Valley with its burning rattle in your brain, you know…it's a film about a beautiful sorrow dream. A dream which is still hopelessly followed by the sick ones to whom that dream is the only thing that can be lost and those who observes it as something interesting to look at behind that thick, mind-proof glass. Harlan (played by Edward Norton) is one of those sick ones, which finds his way into the one of the corners of that big city drowned in a smog of laziness. With his childlike naivety, Harlan wanders around as someone from the Old West who accidentally woke up with a permanent memory loss in that bitter present where the place for his ideals and views has no space left. At the same corner lives a girl October (played by Evan Rachel Wood) who is stuck where melting concrete and never getting tired streets, a handful of unbothered friends, her, scared and most of the time left alone in his own shadows, younger brother Ronnie (played by Rory Culkin) and Wade (played by David Morse) who acts more like a canary coop keeper than her father is all that surrounds her. As she lifts her eyes to the blue sky where passing through plane drags her look with a need to leave, you can feel that longing so clear as it is your own eyes which follows that same plane. It's a story about how these two meet each other and everything which comes along with it… Cinematography makes you taste that polluted dust in your mouth and to emphasize through the same dreamlike blur mundanity that film characters do. Sometimes it's so bright that it almost starts to burn your eyes, which helps a lot for someone like me who has never been there. With the same childish naivety now I feel that I did. Soundtrack even more wraps you around with that "lost-to be found" atmosphere. The songs of Peter Salett filled with heart shattering tenderness and fragility sharply reflects the feelings portrayed in the film. As well, those few of Mazzy Star which gets you high by watching Harlan and October drifting through the night life of the Valley. Rory Culkin's vulnerability expresses how the child surrounded by an environment in which everything what separates good and bad are whirling in the same ruthless and twisted whirlwind just as some unnoticeable piece of paper tissue on the street curb. David Morse brings the differ greatness with his character's strict force directed at times so wrongly which brakes him by its own struggle to raise children, which are already swallowed by the abyss of reality in which there is nothing childlike anymore. Flawless chemistry between Edward Norton and Evan Rachel Wood in this heady modern western romantic drama leaves the itchy scar inside you. Even it hurts, you can't stop scratching

bacardicazz Last week, I walked past a toy store to find out they were having a fire sale of their DVD collection. When I entered the store, I came across some large crates with hundreds of dvds in them. Logically, many of them had an average IMDb score of between 1.0 and 3.0, but some had promising covers. I decided to take a leap of faith and bought everything that didn't seem less attractive than homework. Down in the Valley was one of the films I purchased. The first thing I noticed while watching it, was that from minute one, it has a grip on you. Norton is excellent as a hillbilly who looks innocent and charming, but whom you know hides a dark soul beneath that innocence. Later in the film, he meets up with the sexy Tobe, played by Evan Rachel Wood. They have a definite spark and the flirting feels very real. Norton also befriends her little brother, Lonnie, which invokes the torment of their father, a cop named Wade.At first, the friction between Wade and Norton seems to be about a father-daughter thing, but soon you are treated to Norton's deceptive and manipulative tricks. This lead me to believe that Norton's character was a classic sadist, but it turns out he is delusional and lies all the time because he really believes he's a cowboy.The acting is outstanding and it is nice to see Norton portraying a character once more who undergoes a grave psychological change and ends up doing something horrific (remember Primal Fear).Just 3 things I can't figure out: Why was Norton forced to run from his hometown? Did he shoot someone there? Maybe his father, Joe? And why was the 2nd ending on the DVD not included in the movie? It was far better and more logical than committing suicide. And, why does the cover of the DVD looks like a dark horror/thriller, when this movie centers more on the feelings of a confused and delusional young man? Even though some plot points are a bit confusing, it is a wonderful movie with yet another commendable performance by actor David Morse.

Roger Pettit Edward Norton is fast becoming one of my favourite film actors. He has tremendous screen presence, as he demonstrated in "American History X" (which I saw for the first time recently). He is terrifically good in this film too. His co-star, Evan Rachel Wood, also gives a very good performance. Unfortunately, neither is able to rescue a film that is a stylistic mess and, ultimately, a rather dull watch. "Down in the Valley" is set in modern-day California, the valley of the title being San Fernando. It tells the story of Harlan Fairfax Carruthers (Norton), a young, likable drifter who is somewhat emotionally disturbed and who seems to think of himself as a sort of 21st century cowboy. While working at a petrol (gas) station, Harlan meets Tobe (Wood). Tobe - the name is short for October - is an attractive 18 year old student. She lives with her father Wade (David Morse) and her younger brother Lonnie (Rory Culkin). Wade is a single parent and, though strict, struggles to control his somewhat wayward adolescent daughter. Harlan gives up his job at the petrol station in order to go to the beach with Tobe and some of her high school friends. He and Tobe strike up an intimate relationship with each other, much to the disgust of Tobe's father who considers Harlan to be quite unsuitable boyfriend material for his daughter. Wade therefore tries to break up the relationship. Matters quickly spiral out of control from there.A major problem with "Down in the Valley" is that it just doesn't seem to know what sort of film it wants to be. It begins promisingly as an interesting character study under the guise of a modern cowboy story. It then seems to veer into psychological drama territory with elements of romance before finally mutating into a violent action movie replete with (in this instance, ludicrous) gun shoot-outs of the kind seen in many westerns. This weird and muddled amalgam of styles ruins the coherence of a film that is well-acted but poorly structured, scripted and directed. "Down in the Valley" is also a dull film. I didn't really care about any of the characters. What's more, little attempt is made to examine or explain the reasons for Harlan's seemingly eccentric and egotistical behaviour. A very disappointing movie. 4/10.