The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Down in the Valley
Drama · Romance · Thriller · 2005
On a trip to the beach, a teenage girl named Tobe meets a charismatic stranger named Harlan, who dresses like a cowboy and claims to be a former ranch hand. The pair feel an instant attraction and begin a relationship, but her father, a lawman, is suspicious of her lover.
Movie details
Down in the Valley
“Sometimes it's hard to find your way.”
2005 Drama · Romance · Thriller 1h 52m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
5.9 / 10
Community rating
On a trip to the beach, a teenage girl named Tobe meets a charismatic stranger named Harlan, who dresses like a cowboy and claims to be a former ranch hand. The pair feel an instant attraction and begin a relationship, but her father, a lawman, is suspicious of her lover.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Down in the Valley?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Road to Paloma
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Broke
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A bronc rider in denial about his fading rodeo career battles against brain injury and a sudden blizzard while reflecting on how it became so difficult to achieve his dreams.
The Hateful Eight
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Bounty hunters seek shelter from a raging blizzard and get caught up in a plot of betrayal and deception.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
David Jacobson
Written by
David Jacobson
Edward Norton
Harlan Fairfax Curruthers
Evan Rachel Wood
Tobe Sommers
David Morse
Wade Sommers
Rory Culkin
Lonnie
Bruce Dern
Charlie
John Diehl
Steve
Geoffrey Lewis
Sheridan
Court is in session
Put Down in the Valley on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.