In a Valley of Violence

"West pairs Ethan Hawke with an adorable canine sidekick, but he can't teach an old genre new tricks."

"The film conveys a sense of pastiche unpredictably giving way to a raw and primordially intimate emotional realm."

"A by-the-numbers spaghetti Western that's kind of slow and uneventful..."

"Feels exasperatingly two-dimensional."

"Does not take itself too seriously (a great asset), but it also takes itself just seriously enough that it's not empty snarky parody."

"Announces itself as an unabashed B-movie from its pre-credits scene ... and never worries itself about being anything deeper than that."

"Its somber, bone-dry gruffness crumbles to dust, only to be replaced by adolescent jokiness."

"West is an impeccable craftsman, his storytelling chops as fatless and near-faultless as ever."

"Revenge hasn't been this sweet in a long time."

"Not West's best film (that honor would still go to The House of the Devil), but it is a noble effort into non-genre territory that is probably his most accessible film to date."