This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Some old Western tropes are trotted out for another ride in the overly slick "In a Valley of Violence," another example of a too-hip director who fancies he can make a Western.
Ethan Hawke stars as Paul, whom we find riding his horse to Mexico, his trusty dog Abby by his side. He's forced, by a lack of provisions, to stop in the town of Denton, where he runs afoul of Gilly Martin (James Ransone), the bullying deputy of the marshal (John Travolta), who's also Gilly's father. Paul punches Gilly out and tries to go quietly on his way, but Gilly and his goons pursue him, causing Paul to return to exact revenge.
Writer-director Ti West, best known for horror films, creates a repetitive cycle of mayhem and murder, but he doesn't bring much new to the table in his restaging of familiar Western images. Hawke is good at establishing Paul's haunted psyche, but West leaves little for his cast — particularly the women, an innocent young widow (Taissa Farmiga) and her shrill sister (Karen Gillan) — struggling with underwritten roles.
'In a Valley of Violence'
Opens Friday, Oct. 21, at the Broadway Centre Cinemas; rated R for violence and language; 104 minutes.