"Walked up and down it looking for one open face, but most people I've meet hardly seem like human beings to me anymore."

The events of the story are set in motion, when a delusional man who believes he is a cowboy falls in love with a young girl he meets by accident.

The story was interesting, something that definitely stood out. Of course it's not addressed from the beginning that Harlan's delusional, it's brought to attention little by little. And the more you find out about what's going on inside Harlan's head, the more distressed it makes you. Especially when he at first seems harmless, and then suddenly you realise this might not be the case. It's also wonderful how the story goes on. Because it begins with Tobe, the girl, and the beginning is through her eyes, but after their first one night together, the story starts to involve Harlan's point of view more and more, until it becomes mostly Harlan's story. And basically Down In The Valley is Harlan's story, but less through his eyes and through first Tobe and then her little brother Lonnie. And it's wonderful how the writer, David Jacobson, realised how he can make a story about a character but still not make the story only from his point of view. This is something movies can do more than let's say novels. In novels that sort of change is confusing, unless it's subtle. Well the change was subtle Down In The Valley, which is sort of why you almost forget how it wasn't about Harlan from the beginning.

I love how the music, cinematography and many other little details made Down In The Valley seem weirdly like a modern-day western. Especially towards the end it's less clear when the story is taking place. That also is never addressed directly, but at the beginning you sort of figure out when it's taking place, but Harlan kind of shuffles the idea. The character really mixes the idea of modern world and the old, wild west. 

The delusion of being a cowboy was also made well. Harlan didn't really think he was in the wild west. He was aware of the time he was living in, but he longed for the wild west so much it made him delusional. 

One thing bothered me all through the movie. The young girl, Tobe, is apparetnly 17-year-old, if you can trust the people on iMDB message boards, Harlan's age is never said directly, but Norton was around 35 when the movie was shot. The age difference was never stated, and nobody actually even mentioned it. Of course Tobe's father wasn't at all pleased about Harlan, but he didn't either mention age being the problem, Maybe it was so obvious. Anyway, this is the subject I was reading about on the messaging boards on iMDB. To summarize what was discussed there, the age difference between Harlan and Tobe was important. It made it seem even more forbidden. And someone also mentioned how Tobe being young was something Harlan saw as innocence, which also reminded him of the old times which he longed for. 

Down In The Valley was surprisingly good film, I didn't expect to like it this much. The tempo is just right, the story is good and the actors are excellent at what they do. However it wasn't exactly surprising. The story was new and interesting, but there wasn't anything that would surprise the viewer. And plot twists and surprise is kind of important in cinema these days - plot twists are what we remember.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

8 / 10