"2 Days in the Valley" is a great movie for anyone. If you like interesting story lines accompanied by amazing performances by very talented actors/actresses then you should watch 2 Days in the Valley. This movie packs a lot of star power with names such as Charlize Theron, Teri Hatcher, Eric Stoltz, Danny Aiello, Jeff Bridges and James Spader. The story revolves around the events surrounding different characters, all unrelated. The movie has many sub-plots and develops them all independently until they all merge together and we get the big picture. Throughout the movie, we learn important details that are all leading up to a great finale. The director threw in a lot of little interesting quirks, such as the murderous assassin smirking as he watches a cop sight down the barrel of a watergun, or a spiteful old man who we came to hate earlier slinking out of a Japanese pleasure house in the dead of night. The movie is very well written and very interesting, and if there is any problem whatsoever, it would have to be that at times the dialogue becomes a bit laborous and unrealistic. (Sometimes, it appears that the characters are explaining what's going on to the audience, rather than conversing with the other characters.) Nevertheless, this is a trite point, and distracts none at all from the movie's enjoyment.

The cast, especially James Spader and Charlize Theron are top notch, but a crucial change made to "lighten" the movie tosses much of the plot out the window, robs one central character of his key motivation, and greatly hinders the film. Stoltz and Spader give the Best performances, both funny and real. Especially Spader, he virtually Carries the film. Charlize Theron, in one of her first films, is very, very attention-grabbing, through her looks and her abilities. Daniels and Hatcher appear too infrequently to be memorable. Aiello and Headly give equally likable performances that become the moral centre of the film. However, what makes this work is some clever dialogue and some satirical plot ideas, but mainly it is a tour de force of acting by a talented and highly professional cast. This is one of those movies in which every actor is a threat to steal the show at any time one way or the other. In a way it's a parade of cameos cleverly stitched together and then nicely edited.

Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

It's 48 hours in the seedy underside of L.A. Lee Woods (James Spader) and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello) are spying on Olympic athlete Becky Foxx (Teri Hatcher) and her ex-husband Roy Foxx (Peter Horton) in bed together. Lee is having a fling with platinum blonde femme fatale Helga Svelgen (Charlize Theron). Vice cop Alvin Strayer (Jeff Daniels) is obsessed with shuting down a massage parlor moving into the valley and sends in new partner Wes Taylor (Eric Stoltz) who is desperate to join homicide. Allan Hopper (Greg Cruttwell) is an arrogant art dealer and Susan Parish (Glenne Headly) is his put-upon assistant. Suicidal TV writer Teddy Peppers (Paul Mazursky) meets and gives away his dog to Allan's nurse sister Audrey Hopper (Marsha Mason) at a cemetary. These various characters become a part of the story of a hit. Detective Creighton (Keith Carradine) leads the investigation.

It makes no sense that Lee wouldn't shoot Wes after already killing two cops. It also makes no sense that a killer like Dosmo would try to save Wes. There is a few more inconsistencies along the way. Lee should try to shoot Wes and the gun could jam at that point. The story could still work the same. Dosmo may have tried to save Wes as part of the plan but then why would he run of bullets. It's obviously not a plan but I don't believe that it's in him to save a cop. Writer/director John Herzfeld tried to do something here but he doesn't completely pull it off. It's trying to be quirky with mixed results. It's trying to be cool but it's trying too hard. It's trying to be Get Shorty but there's no Elmore Leonard. It doesn't have the edge of Pulp Fiction since there is no Tarantino. It falls just a little bit short despite the big impressive cast.

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")