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Submitted by cinemascope on Sat, 2006-05-27 14:59. :: Cinemascope 5
Movie title:
Down In The Valley
Starring:
Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse, Kieran Culkin
Directed by:
David Jacobson
Written by:
David Jacobson
Genre:
Drama
Year:
2006
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Runtime:
125 mins
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
In the San Fernando Valley in California, teenager Tobe (Wood) rebels against her single-parent father Wade (Morse)'s wishes by striking up a relationship with wannabe-cowboy Harlan (Norton). When Wade forces the couple to split, Harlon attempts to ingratiate himself back into the family by making friends with Tobe's younger brother Lonnie (Culkin).
In the San Fernando Valley in California, teenager Tobe (Wood) rebels against her single-parent father Wade (Morse)'s wishes by striking up a relationship with wannabe-cowboy Harlan (Norton). When Wade forces the couple to split, Harlon attempts to ingratiate himself back into the family by making friends with Tobe's younger brother Lonnie (Culkin).
Review
Previously best known as the writer/director of serial killer biopic Dahmer, Jacobson's third movie would probably have had a similarly low profile had Edward Norton not got hold of a script and signed up as both star and producer. He's probably too old at 35 to be playing a man clearly meant to be in his early twenties, but Norton's been trading on his youthful looks since his hugely powerful debut playing a teenage altar boy in Primal Fear, when he was 27. As with that movie, it's difficult to imagine Down In The Valley without his impressive central performance as the mysterious and ultimately disturbed Harlan, but he is ably supported by Evan Rachel Wood, playing a sexually awkward teenager comparable to Juliette Lewis's Danielle in Cape Fear, and particularly the ever-excellent David Morse as her volatile but devoted father. The scenes between Norton and Morse crackle with energy and barely-restrained aggression. A terrible continuity error, where Norton has a huge moustache and then inexplicably doesn't, is best overlooked. Worth seeing, if only to avoid the awful twin blockbuster juggernauts of Da Vinci and X-Men that will be dominating multiplexes.
Previously best known as the writer/director of serial killer biopic Dahmer, Jacobson's third movie would probably have had a similarly low profile had Edward Norton not got hold of a script and signed up as both star and producer. He's probably too old at 35 to be playing a man clearly meant to be in his early twenties, but Norton's been trading on his youthful looks since his hugely powerful debut playing a teenage altar boy in Primal Fear, when he was 27. As with that movie, it's difficult to imagine Down In The Valley without his impressive central performance as the mysterious and ultimately disturbed Harlan, but he is ably supported by Evan Rachel Wood, playing a sexually awkward teenager comparable to Juliette Lewis's Danielle in Cape Fear, and particularly the ever-excellent David Morse as her volatile but devoted father. The scenes between Norton and Morse crackle with energy and barely-restrained aggression. A terrible continuity error, where Norton has a huge moustache and then inexplicably doesn't, is best overlooked. Worth seeing, if only to avoid the awful twin blockbuster juggernauts of Da Vinci and X-Men that will be dominating multiplexes.
