Review of In a Valley of Violence (2016) by Peter N — 04 Dec 2016

Reminiscent of some of the quirkier westerns of the 1970s, IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE is very much an idiosyncratic effort from writer/director Ti West. Though it is packed with classical western elements and iconography, West gives them a just slightly off-kilter skew, complete with a healthy sense of humor in the early going that places one kind of at ease; this is deliberate, as there is a dramatic shift in tone halfway through.

Some will be left cold by this, but I think it works well in the sense that it lends the movie a bifurcated structure which allows for things setup (seemingly innocently) in the first half to be paid off in the second.

In a way, it's almost as if the first movement presents the more idealized, "Hollywood"-ized version of the old west, while the second movement brings a darker, grittier edge that more closely resembles what it was probably really like.

Ethan Hawke is excellent as the lead, as is Travolta in one of his better turns of late; they're backed up by a very solid roster of supporting performances fleshing out colorful characters of the sort you'd expect to find in a western.

One of the most impressive things about the film is that it showcases real growth on the part of Ti West himself; none of his previous films (all of which I think are varying degrees of good) displayed the kind of cinematic vocabulary that his shows off here, and the lightness of touch in the first half proves that he's got some directorial range.

I have to give the movie huge bonus points for its wonderful, Sergio Leone-inspired opening title sequence, which is the best I've seen this year.