Directed and Written by John Herzfeld

Danny Aiello, Greg Cruttwell, Jeff Daniels, Teri Hatcher, Glenne Headly, Marsha Mason, Paul Mazursky, James Spader, Eric Stoltz, Charlize Theron, Keith Carradine, Louise Fletcher, Peter Horton, Austin Pendleton.

Set over two tumultuous days in The Valley in LA, Becky (Hatcher) awakens to find that her ex husband (Horton) has been murdered while she was drugged in her sleep by two hit-men (Spader and Aiello). After they turn on each other and are separated, they bring a mixture of other parties into the fold, and it all culminates into a well orchestrated conclusion.

Actually quite well written, and partly forgotten Indie/Crime/Thriller yarn that has a Tarantino-esk vibe to it. However it stands on its own with a linear narrative towards it, the way the characters are intertwined with one another, the dialogue between the characters is done well, and all the characters are well written, and mostly likeable.

All the acting is on point, especially by Spader who is believably frightening as the primary antagonist. This is one of the best roles I have seen him in he seemed to be having a blast in it. Some of the other characters, like the down on his luck hit-man Dosmo , the hard done by assistant Susan and the suicidal Teddy are mentioned here, primarily due to the passing of the actors who played them. Aiello, Headly and Mazursky are all brilliant in their roles, and it is sad that they are no longer here. Especially Headly who sadly passed at just 62 a few years back.

There is a fun score and soundtrack, that adds to the story. It is has an almost Motown/Blues vibe to it.

My only criticism is that some of the storylines don’t seem to be resolved, primarily Daniels and Mazursky’s. Other than that this was a pretty decent mid 90’s action yarn.

4/5