In the Valley of Elah

Only Roger Ebert and the reviewer for Rolling Stone seem to see the truth here: this film is slow and elegiac because it deals with heavy matters, but it is never boring, not if you understand the situation and the depth of feelings being explored. It's as if reviewers don't get it because they didn't really feel what the film is saying. Saying that there have been dozens of films about how war ruins men so it's a cliché, and that this one is too dreary and slow means that a person has stopped feeling for what is really hurtful, is even in denial. And that's the theme of this film: what happens when we lose touch with what's painful and don't care any more. The film is restrained but powerful, which is why it has such a strong effect.

Jones is wonderfully grim, with a face like a road map, as he explores what happened to his son. Charlize Theron is beautiful even though she is playing a woman who is forced to act as non-sexy as possible to get on in her job in a male police force. Susan Sarandon is not, as some critic said, "underused"; she gives a performance that is all the more powerful because it is restrained. This movie should be a must see for all who believe that the Iraq war should continue until there is an honorable time for America to leave. That time is already passed.

A gung-ho ex military man gets word that his son, a soldier in Iraq, has gone AWOL. The film's plot follows the father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, as he sets about trying to find out what happened. Most of the characters here are either military people or local cops.

The story is heavy on mystery and investigation. The father's research skills are more potent than those of some local cops. Subtle plot twists and red herrings throughout keep the story's outcome uncertain until the end.

Based very loosely on a real-life event in 2003, the film's back-story pertains to the war in Iraq. Because of the controversial nature of this war, some viewers will read into the film a nefarious political agenda, dismissing it as propaganda. In point of fact, the motivation that led to the real-life event is, to this day, still shrouded in mystery.

Production values are generally high. The film has terrific, detailed production design. Sound quality is near perfect, which, when combined with the absence of background music in some scenes, enhances a sense of realism. Film editing is reasonably good, though a number of scenes could have been edited out, as they are either unnecessary or a tad confusing. If one is not privy to the film's point of view, the ending is slightly ambiguous, especially with regard to motivations of certain characters. An added line or two of dialogue could have added clarification.

Acting is wonderful. Tommy Lee Jones, with his weather-beaten face, is convincing as a tough, patriotic American military dad. Charlize Theron is satisfying as a frustrated local cop. Even minor roles are well cast. Kathy Lamkin, in a small role, couldn't be any more realistic as the impersonal, haggard manager of a fast-food restaurant.

I found "In The Valley Of Elah" entertaining as a mystery. The terrific casting and acting, along with high production values, render a film that is both realistic and highly believable.

I just saw this film and consider it to be one of the best anti-war films I've seen in quite a long time. And that makes me wonder at what the various critics are thinking. Roger Ebert gets it right, but some film critics are far too dismissive of a very serious, important film. James Berardinelli, in particular, seems curiously _angry_ that this film depicts the moral degradation of war in a frank and honest fashion.

Berardinelli is basically wrong in every single thing he says about the film. Since this film is not a "politcal message" film, it has no requirement to "show both sides equally". It is a story about a group of soldiers basically driven beyond the area of traditionally human behavior. Berardinelli thinks that it's "obvious" that war changes the way people feel about their country.

I sense a person utterly detached from history when I read that. A recent study concluded that the English were, as a group, fairly happy during WWII, even when their nation was under attack. Why was that? Because they believed in what they were doing. The notion that war _necessarily_ results in moral breakdown is, while hardly novel, also not true. That is part of what is important about "Elah". Jones' character is a veteran of the Vietnam war, and is hardly a delicate flower when it comes to the matters of war and its effect on the psyche. And yet even he is floored at what the Iraq war has done to the soldiers.

It is easy for a film critic to simply reject what is essentially reporting on the state of the military today. That Berardinelli does so with such vitriol makes me guess that he is injecting his own bias into the review.

This movie is just about perfect. I love how it starts as a genre movie and then transcends into something deeper and soul-searching. Some people just don't like Paul Haggis, but I'm not one of them. I think he's very smart here; he has no political point of view, he handles Charlize Theron perfectly, and the movie forces everybody to think about the troops in a way that isn't simply political rhetoric. I love that Tommy Lee Jones feels the way so many dads do. He's never been better. Watching the police work happen is interesting on it's own, but I like that Charlize Theron is just out to do the job correctly and just shrugs off the chauvinism coming at her from her department. The movie could've gone somewhere with that, but instead just quietly lets us in on it and moves on.

There have been many very good movies the last few years about Iraq-related themes, but I don't think there is a film that captures the feeling of the national mood as good as this one. It's drained of melodrama and just sort of moves forward on really good performances of the whole cast, who all act according to their natures instead of because of stupid plot requirements.

This movie deals with the serious business of war and what it does to people.

It also deals with the anguish of parents, and how they try to deal with loss. When all is gone and there seems no point carrying on.

As well as this there is the military and how it deals with its image and the fragility of the men it must use.

The ex military father tries to find the truth behind his sons death. Despite him feeling he could do a better job than the police. Even he is caught out by the truth.

The movie is slow, and serious, and even disturbing at times. However, it always keeps you interested, and is a good watch; if you are in the right mood for it.