'In A Valley Of Violence' A Review

In A Valley of Violence is a western about a man, his dog, and revenge. Passing through sparsely populated Denton on the way to Mexico Paul(Ethan Hawk) and his dog Abbie are confronted by young hot head Gilly(James Ransone) who Paul lays out after being incessantly provoked. Marshal Clyde Martin(John Travolta) tells Paul to get out of town and never come back which he does. Camping that night on his way to Mexico Gilly and three thugs ambush Paul, kill his dog, and leave him for dead. He returns to Denton for revenge.

Hawk is adequate as the man-with-no-name stand-in but only manages flashes of menace and pathos, there is a casualness to the performance which seems incongruent with the story it is actually in. Ransone is also relatively unharmonic in his role as heavy, he mugs and shouts and there isn't a whole lot of reality to his performance, there are moments of fun but mostly it seems like he is playing it as if it was the present rather than the past. Travolta is the one big surprise, providing depth, emotion and some wry humor. He isn't given much but he takes full advantage and puts forth a complete and compelling character. Taissa Farmiga as Mary-Anne is another bright spot, she brings energy and wit but unfortunately isn't given anything beyond psuedo-love-interest.

The biggest issue of the film is that it is derivative, the main crux of the plot is literally the same as John Wick. That on top of the numerous western tropes that the film blandly recycles. There is nothing at all new about the film save for the glimmer from Travolta and Farmiga and a couple cinematic flares, not enough to rise above mediocre.

Predictable and plain.

Don't See It.