Lee Woods: Nobody knows how valuable a minute is until they only have one left.
2 Days in the Valley is a 1996 American crime film written and directed by John Herzfeld that deals with the 48 hours of the people who live in San Fernando Valley who come together due to a murder.
The movie stars Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, Jeff Daniels, Teri Hatcher, Glenne Headly, Peter Horton, Marsha Mason, Paul Mazursky, James Spader, Eric Stoltz, and Charlize Theron, in the latter's first speaking film role.note
It was released on September 27, 1996.
Tropes for the film:
- Always Save the Girl: Teddy doesn't mind if Dosmo wants to kill him, as he wants to die (see Interrupted Suicide below). However, when Dosmo threatens to kill Audrey, Teddy immediately threatens to harm Dosmo if he hurts Audrey.
- Ambition Is Evil: Something of a theme for the film. Most of the characters lack either the talent or the ruthless drive and determination required to rise higher than where they are, and are just kind of going through the motions as life passes them by. The characters who either have succeeded in life or may still have a chance to do so, on the other hand, do have that sort of drive and Lack of Empathy for others, and are without a doubt the most unlikeable or amoral characters in the film. Lampshaded when Teddy notes that "losers" usually have much more honor and decency than the "winners" in life.Allan Hopper: How can you take this loser's word? You can't believe him!
Teddy Peppers: I'll take his word over yours. It's been my experience, more often than not, that a loser has more honor than a winner. - Asshole Victim: According to Becky, Roy is this, as he cheated on her several times, including with Helga, and he sued her for alimony, so she's glad he's dead. Helga retorts that she thinks that Becky treated Roy like shit, and only focused on her athletic career.
- Beard of Sorrow: Alvin is a deeply unhappy man with a bearded face, while he's clean-shaven in pictures taken before his family left him.
- Because You Were Nice to Me: Becky tries to talk Woods and Helga out of killing the homicide detectives searching her house, saying the two treated her nicely while questioning her.
- Bilingual Bonus: As she's dying, Helga says something in untranslated (broken) Norwegian which loosely translates to "I want to call my mother, I want to go home".
- Born in the Wrong Century: After Woods brags about how he psychologically torments his victims, Helga tells him he should have been born during The Spanish Inquisition.
- Bulletproof Vest: Dosmo wears one of these, which saves his life against Woods. Twice.
- The Cameo: Lawrence Tierney plays Helga's downstairs neighbor, whom we see briefly during the Cat Fight, while Austin Pendleton appears briefly as a man who once worked with Teddy, and Louise Fletcher plays Teddy's landlord (see Reasonable Authority Figure below).
- Catchphrase: Woods' "Time's up."
- Cat Fight: The film features a fight between Teri Hatcher and Charlize Theron's characters that was featured heavily in the advertising campaign.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Woods recruited Dosmo for the hit on Roy Foxx specifically to use him for this. Woods made sure to plant some of Dosmo's cigarettes at the scene where he killed Roy, then shot Dosmo in the car after they left the scene and blew up the car remotely, planning for the police to find Dosmo's body in the burned out car and match it to DNA evidence from the cigarettes. Dosmo survives thanks to a bulletproof vest and escapes before the car blows up. Amusingly, late in the movie it's shown that despite their questionable competence the police might not have gone for Woods' attempt at framing Dosmo, as they specifically note that the cigarettes are out of place considering how clean the rest of the scene is and how professionally the job was done.
- Dodgy Toupee: Dosmo has one that falls off when gets away from Woods' attempt on his life. Susan tells him at the end he looks better without it.
- Dramatic Ammo Depletion: In the climax, Dosmo pretends to have been killed or seriously wounded by a shot from Woods that was actually stopped by Dosmo's Bulletproof Vest. When Woods strolls over to finish off his other victim, Dosmo gets the drop on Woods and shoots at him, only to be greeted by a "click", as his revolver is out of bullets.
- For the Evulz: Woods gives his victims a minute to beg for their lives, but he never intends to spare any of them regardless of what they say or do. He appears to simply enjoy the psychological torment it inflicts.
- Happy-Ending Massage: Vice Officers Alvin Strayer and Wes Taylor are busting "happy ending" massage parlors. But Taylor doesn't have the heart to subject the nice and clearly uncomfortable girl doing his latest massage to a police raid, even though she grips his member and asks if he wants more.
- Heroic Bystander: Crossed with Bested by the Inexperienced. Skilled and competent hitman Lee Woods is killed by a shot In the Back by Teddy Peppers, an ordinary guy who was dragged into the plot by sheer chance. With the very same gun Teddy was planning to use to commit suicide.
- Interrupted Suicide: Teddy tries to shoot himself at the cemetery, but is stopped first by his dog, Bogey, and then when he hears and sees Audrey drive up.
- Jaded Washout: Most of the characters are in this stage of their lives. Even the area where the film is set and shot in was known at the time as a neighborhood for people who "hadn't quite made it" to live in, and most of the characters are either past their best days (Teddy is a formerly acclaimed film director who is now suicidal and about to be thrown out of his apartment after being unable to pay the rent, Dosmo is an old hitman who now primarily works at a pizzeria, Alvin is a washed up cop depressed about his family leaving him and about to be bounced from the force due to brutality complaints, Becky is a former Olympic athlete who always fell short of winning a medal and is about to become too old to keep competing, etc.), or their lives or careers have stalled out (Wes is a young and eager cop, but he's already developing issues/becoming disillusioned with working in the Vice unit, to the point of refusing to go through with busts), and have no particular sign of upward mobility. Naturally the exceptions to this are the biggest jerks in the movie; the self-centered Mean Boss art dealer Allan Hopper, and the thoroughly amoral, unscrupulous, and vicious Lee Woods and Helga.Dosmo: How did you find me?
Lee Woods: In the phone book under "washout". - Let Off by the Detective: After Dosmo put his own life in danger to save Wes, Wes has no interest in trying to apprehend him after the climactic gunfight, instead gesturing for Dosmo to take the money from his One Last Job and leave before any more cops arrive. He was also unable to bust the nice and clearly uncomfortable woman working in a Happy-Ending Massage parlor.
- Most Writers Are Writers: Writer/director Hershfeld does a film featuring a character who's a writer/director.
- Plausible Deniability: Discussed: Helga points out to Becky the reason why no one told her anything about how Roy was going to die so that when the cops questioned her, she wouldn't have to lie (which doesn't really help Becky, as the very first thing she did when encountering the police was to fall into Saying Too Much).
- Playing Possum: In the final shootout, Dosmo is unable to stand watching Woods torture Wes by repeatedly shooting Wes in the legs, so he comes out from behind cover to try to save Wes' life. Woods shoots him, but Dosmo is uninjured thanks to his Bulletproof Vest. Dosmo then plays dead to draw Woods out, and sure enough Woods comes over to be sure that Dosmo is dead, and Dosmo dramatically spins around and fires his gun at Woods... except it turns out he used up all his bullets earlier in the shootout.
- Police Are Useless: Zigzagged with each of the four cops in the movie.
- Wes neglects his duty during a prostitution sting and lies that the girl is innocent due to feeling sorry for her (although not without reason). He also disturbs a crime scene even after being warned not to touch anything there. However, he picks up on Becky Saying Too Much about the murder and correctly deduces a possible motive. During a shootout, he also orders Dosmo (whom he believes to be an innocent bystander) not to endanger himself by leaving cover to help Wes, even when Woods threatens to kill Wes.
- Alvin is obsessed with busting a massage parlor for prostitution even after being told they aren't doing anything, and dismisses a clue about the Foxx murder that Wes picks up on. He also pulls a gun on a golfer who breaks his window. However, he's right about the massage parlor engaging in prostitution. He also bravely inspects a murder scene and warns Wes not to disturb anything before a forensic examination.
- Detectives Creighton and Valenzuela believe Becky's lies, and Creighton unprofessionally hits on her. They also are easily surprised by a hitman returning to the crime scene. However, they quickly pick up on how the cigarette pack was obviously planted there to mislead them, given how the rest of the hit is completely free of any trace evidence.
- Professional Killer: The film has two contrasting hitmen. Dosmo is bald, aging, overweight, and down-on-his-luck, while Lee Woods is successful, young, handsome, and intelligent. However, Dosmo has the Jerk with a Heart of Gold thing going on, (along with a somewhat rough code of honor) while Woods is an utterly ruthless killer who likes to play mental games with his victims beforehand, and will kill anyone who gets in his way.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Teddy's landlady lets him go four months without paying his rent before reluctantly putting her foot down, and tries to suggest other ways for him to get the rent money.
- Saying Too Much: Becky Foxx has hired killers to murder her husband. Wes notices that her immediate reaction is to say "They killed my husband", instead of something like "Someone killed my husband" or even "My husband is dead". This implies that she knew there were multiple murderers despite claiming that she hadn't seen anything and the police not having otherwise established this. His partner brushes it off as a figure of speech.
- Self-Made Man: Art dealer Allan Hopper regularly makes deals in the hundreds of thousands of dollars despite growing up in a trailer park, and his mother couldn't afford to send him or his sister to college.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: Dosmo swears a lot in this movie.Dosmo: What the fuck happened?
Woods: Does every other word have to be "fuck"? Is that the extent of your vocabulary?
Dosmo: It fucking bothers you? I didn't fucking know. - Slasher Smile: Woods does this often. It ties into his sadism and pleasure at having people at his mercy.
- Smarter Than You Look: Dosmo, an aging, overweight, schlubby looking hitman manages to surprise people with his cleverness a few times, including fooling the apparently much sharper and on the ball hitman Woods twice. Woods, who had been sneeringly dismissive of Dosmo, grudgingly shows Dosmo some respect after Dosmo outsmarts him the second time around.
- Turn in Your Badge: Part of the reason why Alvin is so upset, including when he gets angry at Wes for not going through with the bust on the massage parlor, is because he's received a letter from the department telling him he needs to turn in his badge because of the complaints they've received about him for excessive force.
- Wham Shot: Becky's role in the murder is revealed when the woman picking her up from the police station turns out to be Helga.
- What You Are in the Dark: A car thief who sees Allan rolling on the ground in the middle of the road pauses his crime (after momentarily hesitating) to help Allan out of traffic (which draws some attention) and then drive him to the hospital. (He also steals Allan's wallet, but still, it was more than anyone else did).
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Dosmo loathes dogs because "they don't like me", and the fact both Allan and Teddy have dogs makes him even more edgy.
