2 Days in the Valley Plot

2 Days in the Valley is a 1996 movie, directed by John Herzfeld, about 48 hours in the lives of a group of people who are drawn together by a murder. Several parallel story lines overlap one another in the film.

The main storyline involves hitmen Lee Woods (James Spader) and Dosmo Pizzo (Danny Aiello). The two kill Roy Foxx (Peter Horton) while he lies in bed after injecting his ex-wife (Teri Hatcher) with a powerful tranquilizer. The day afterward, Woods turns on Pizzo, shooting him and blowing up their car in order to set him up as the fall guy. Woods then flees the scene with his girlfriend and partner, Helga (Charlize Theron).

Pizzo survives the shooting, seeking shelter at the house of Allan Hopper (Greg Crutwell), an arrogant actor who suffers from gallstones. He takes Hopper and his meek assistant, Susan Parish (Glenne Headly), hostage. He is completely unaware of the fact that Hopper has called his older sister, Audrey (Marsha Mason), over to the house for medical help. On the way over to her brother's house, Audrey, a nurse, picks up Teddy Peppers (Paul Mazursky), a down and out TV producer who is contemplating suicide.

Meanwhile, Becky awakens in horror when she discovers Roy's body in bed beside her. She runs from her house and flags down two vice detectives (Eric Stoltz and Jeff Daniels) who happen to be driving through. Although he initially feels sympathetic, Wes Taylor (Stoltz) begins to feel suspicious, wondering if Becky knows more than she is telling. Later it is revealed that Becky hired Lee and Helga to kill Roy for $30,000. Becky, who was unaware of the fact that Lee planned to kill Roy in her house, stashed the money in her house which is now a crime scene. The divergent paths of the characters cross, with deadly consequences, after Lee decides to sneak back into the house to get the money.