Magic Valley

2011

Drama

1
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 40%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 40% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.1/10 10 311 311

Plot summary

As one warm October day unfolds, the sleepy town of Buhl, Idaho will never be the same. A fish farmer finds his crop destroyed, a couple of kids are playing an unusual game in the sun-dappled fields, and after a wild party a sleepless teenager is harboring an awful secret….

Director

Jaffe Zinn Photo
Jaffe Zinn

Top cast

Will Estes Photo
Will Estes as Jimmy Duvante
Scott Glenn Photo
Scott Glenn as Ed Halfner
Kyle Gallner Photo
Kyle Gallner as TJ Waggs
Johnny Lewis Photo
Johnny Lewis as John
720p.WEB
784.08 MB
1280*540
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 25 min
Seeds 49

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by 10 / 10

Another wonderful Indie from Heather Rae

Saw this film yesterday at it's TriBeCa premier. Magic Valley is a starkly real look at a day in the life of small town America, but will resonate with all viewers. It is the story of how life can ambush us at any moment, and change us forever. Drawing on experiences from his own life, writer/director Jaffe Zinn fills the film with symbolism that weaves through the lives of the characters, and pulls the plot together perfectly. The large ensemble cast work together very nicely. They translate the sparse script with great skill using emotion as much as words to convey the story line to the audience. Kyle Gallner gives a particularly emotional performance as a troubled teen. Despite the dark overtone, there is some humor. Watch for an engaging performance by Scott Glenn as the quirky sheriff who has his own idea of what's legal in his town. And the two newcomers who play the little boys, dressed up as little boys do, portray the beguilling innocence of the prepubescent with unexpected skill. Enjoy.
Reviewed by 4 / 10

Confusing and artsy just for the sake of being artsy

According to Wikipedia MAGIC VALLEY was screened at the Rome Film Festival in October 2011 and then released online on May 2013, all signs that this might be a terrible movie which might not seem like this since the only four reviews here give a 5 and three 10s. But as usual with these sort of movies you have to watch them yourselves and then say the truth.The story is set in a small community in a rural area of Idaho. When during a trip in the woods two young boys find the body of a dead woman, they decide it's the best thing to bury it, and during the course of the movie we see the lives of the various other characters. In particular the family and Sheriff Ed Halfner (Scott Glenn) show huge lack of indefference in her disappearence and finding out the cause of death.While I have seen at least thousands of worse movies, I kinda save this one for the following reasons: the scenery was nice, the cinematography was good for its budget and Glenn as usual looked like the only one that tried with the material given.In particular, there is one funny moment I'd love to mention: while two young thugs are committing a robbery, Halfner and his deputy stay sit in the car and Ed starts discussing about RENEGADE and WALKER TEXAS RANGER. First, not only I assume that in the US there must be some channel that airs them connected (like channel 22 here in Italy) but it was unintentionally hilarious. Why? Because instead of going out of the car and see what was going on, the Sheriff discussed about those two TV shows and an episode of each. And just for this the movie gained few points.Overall, one of those movies projected at a festival and then released online with the assumption that if released in theaters would stink. While it's far from a good movie, it's still watchable trust me.
Reviewed by 5 / 10

Perhaps profound, but definitely not interesting

If in every small "ordinary" populated place, where nothing virtually happens, a dead body is found, then it is a trigger, then it all starts to swarm, and successive occasions and people's reactions are usually interesting to follow. But in Magic Valley, corpse forms only a parallel/collateral event, much focus is placed on damaged pond and dull communication among the youth. All this is extremely protracted, there are long camera shots of nature, people talk petty stuff and the ending is dull, making just shrug your shoulders... As for the cast, apart from Scott Glenn, there is no one really memorable.Narration has its place under the sun, but not on the screen in such a manner. Luckily, the movie is around 1 hour 20 minutes only, but all this could be more suitable for radio show or alternative stage play. However, if you worship Terence Malick, you might like Jaffie Zinn as well.
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