In Los Angeles, the professional cold blood killer Lee Woods (James Spader), and his loser partner, the hit-man Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello), are monitoring the house the aspiring Olympic skier Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher) that is sleeping with her ex-husband Roy (Peter Horton). During the night, the killers break in the house and Lee dopes Becky with an injection and kills Roy. They flee and Lee shots Dosmo and blow up their car with Dosmo inside. Then he escapes from the crime scene with his Norwegian girlfriend Helga Svelgen (Charlize Theron). Meanwhile the bigoted veteran vice detective Alvin Strayer (Jeff Daniels) wants to bust an Asian massage parlor to deport the women, but his partner, the rookie and ambitious Wes Taylor (Eric Stoltz), does not agree with his attitude. When Becky awakes covered in blood, she runs to the street and stumbles upon Alvin and Wes that drive to her home to investigate the crime. Dosmos is wearing a bulletproof vest and survives; then he seeks shelter at the mansion of the wealthy and snobbish art dealer Allan Hopper (Greg Cruttwell). Allan has kidney stones and his assistant Susan Parish (Glenne Headly), who is permanently humiliated, is taking care of him. Meanwhile the washed-up and suicidal director Teddy Peppers (Paul Mazursky) is at the cemetery with his beloved dog Bogey visiting his mother's tomb with the intention of committing suicide. He sees the nurse Audrey Hopper (Marsha Mason) and offers Bogey to her. She invites him to visit her half-brother Allan that might be interested in the dog. Throughout two days, the lives of these characters are entwined and truth is disclosed.
"2 Days in the Valley" is one of the best unknown and underrated films that uses a sophisticated screenplay and many well-developed characters in the style of "Pulp Fiction". The combination of crime, thriller, action and comedy is perfect. "2 Days in the Valley" is also the debut of the hot Charlize Theron, in the role of a Norwegian woman. The direction is tight and the performances of the stellar cast are top- notch. What is more incredible is the lack of interest of distributors that have neglected this vintage film that was not released on Blu-Ray; in Brazil, "2 Days in the Valley" was only released on VHS and the imported DVD is very rare. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Contrato de Risco" ("Risk Contract")
"2 Days in the Valley" is one of the best unknown and underrated films that uses a sophisticated screenplay and many well-developed characters in the style of "Pulp Fiction". The combination of crime, thriller, action and comedy is perfect. "2 Days in the Valley" is also the debut of the hot Charlize Theron, in the role of a Norwegian woman. The direction is tight and the performances of the stellar cast are top- notch. What is more incredible is the lack of interest of distributors that have neglected this vintage film that was not released on Blu-Ray; in Brazil, "2 Days in the Valley" was only released on VHS and the imported DVD is very rare. My vote is eight.
Title (Brazil): "Contrato de Risco" ("Risk Contract")