In the Valley of Elah [Blu-ray]

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Product Description
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 02/19/2008 Run time: 121 minutes

Amazon.com
In career Army officer Hank Deerfield's worldview, the American military exists to bring order to the world, and honor and dignity to every one of its soldiers. As played by Tommy Lee Jones, in a layered performance that will haunt the viewer long after the film is over, Deerfield wears the Army life like he does his standard-issue white T-shirts--unconsciously making a cheap motel bed with crisp inspection-ready corners. Yet if war is hell, the purgatory for the relatives of damaged soldiers can cause far more anguish, and Paul Haggis' quietly devastating In the Valley of Elah tells this story through Deerfield, who is desperately trying to piece together the fate of his adored son Mike, a soldier in Iraq.

Mike's company has returned from duty, but he is missing; Hank flies from Tennessee to Fort Rudd in the Southwest, to conduct his own investigation into the disappearance. There he meets a smart but put-upon police officer (Charlize Theron, glammed-down but still showing a bit too much sexy collarbone for a cop) who also smells something off in the Army's official story of the disappearance. The two form an unlikely team, but as a friend tells Deerfield early on, "You gotta trust somebody sometime, Hank," and Mike's vanishing is Hank's tipping point.

As Hank pieces together the horrifying story of Mike's fate, the incremental pain becomes etched in Jones' ragged features, and the camera captures all of it--far more powerfully than could a million words of reportage from the front lines. Theron's performance is also strong, and Susan Sarandon is moving if underutilized as Hank's grief-stricken wife, robbed of the simple nuclear family life she so wanted. "They shouldn't send heroes to places like Iraq," says one of Mike's buddies late in the film, and it's the viewers' collective sorrow--and the film's great achievement--to feel that at the deepest human level. --A.T. Hurley

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5 out of 5 stars

Great; and Terribly Important! February 3, 2008
43 out of 75 found this review helpful

This past weekend, we saw the first truly great movie to come out thus far on the terrible subject of the unfolding American disgrace in Iraq. "In the Valley of Elah" is that movie, and we strongly recommend it to all, not just for its entertainment value, which is significant, but more for its importance in displaying for all to see the horror of this ill conceived adventure in its most human terms.

The story involves Hank Deerfield, brilliantly played by Tommie Lee Jones, a retired military police investigator, whose son, Mike, has been deployed with his Army unit in Iraq. Deerfield receives the call at his Tennessee home that his son has gone AWOL from his Army barracks. Deerfield replies that this can't be so: his son is in Iraq. No, the caller informs him. The unit has returned, and Mike is gone from the base. He'd better get back "pronto".

Deerfield tries to raise his son on the cell phone, to no avail. He senses something wrong, and sets off to the Army base to discover what it is. On the way, a significant, though symbolic scene takes place. Deerfield observes a flag flying in front of a school. But the flag is flying upside down, a sign of distress. Deerfield investigates, only to find that the immigrant janitor was unaware of this important aspect of flag etiquette.

Arriving at the base, Deerfield finds his son is still missing. Army CID is no help. And neither are the civilian authorities. And then the mutilated corpse of his son shows up near the base. It appears that Army CID wants to suppress the case. Deerfield turns to the civilian authorities. But the authority in this small town is rather suspect, represented by Charlize Theron in a wonderfully understated role as the civilian detective.

Deerfield and the female investigator form an unlikely duo and finally solve the gruesome crime. But that is only half the story. What they discover is the depravity that the young soldiers have come to through their involvement in this brutal, absurd conflict.

A terribly important, and possibly overlooked, scene occurs at the home of the female investigator. Deerfield tucks in her young son and, eschewing "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", tells the lad the story of David in the Valley of Elah. David, the little shepherd boy is the only one of the Israelites who can overcome his fear of the monstrous giant, Goliath. He chooses to fight both his fear and the giant. And he wins, against all odds and logic. This is the essential message of this very important film. Goliath represents the power of the modern state, what Hobbes styled as Leviathon. David represents all of us who, rather than cower in fear of this monstrosity, have the courage to take it on.

Some have styled the ending of this movie as "over the top". I strongly disagree with this assessment. In my view, the ending is perfectly understated, and extremely powerful. This country is, indeed, now in distress. And those who truly care need to act and act now. False "conservatives", like the mendacious Michael Medved hate this movie. This is so because it well illustrates the total bankruptcy of their insane policies. It is a great and terribly important movie. See it. Pick up five small, smooth stones. And have no fear!

2 out of 5 stars

The rest of the story April 6, 2008
28 out of 30 found this review helpful

Much has been made of the fact that this movie is based on a true story, the 2003 murder of Richard Davis, a story chronicled by Mark Boal in an extensive magazine article, "Death and Dishonor," that appeared in the May 2004 issue of Playboy (an article that can be found online and that is far more thought-provoking than this film). Some reviews go so far as to say that the film hews closely to the story reported by Boal, but the truth is otherwise. (The film opens with the statement that it was "inspired by actual incidents" - a statement that usually heralds significant dramatic license.) Indeed, of adapting his story for the screen, Mr. Boal, who shares writing credits for the story with director Paul Haggis (Mr. Haggis alone is credited with the screenplay), had this to say: "It's a fictional piece [the film], and so at various junctures Paul [Haggis] and I thought we should change Lanny's story to make it feel more universal." The Lanny to which Mr. Boal refers is Lanny Davis, the real-life father of the victim and the model for the character Hank Deerfield, whom Tommy Lee Jones plays. Exactly what was done to make the story "feel more universal"? Be advised that spoilers follow.

Lanny Davis, upon whom Hank Deerfield is based, is, in fact, a 20-year veteran of the Army, 16 of those years with the Military Police. About a month after his son, Richard Davis, was reported AWOL, from his first 2-day pass following his return from six months in Iraq, Mr. Davis traveled to Fort Bragg, where he spent several days trying unsuccessfully to motivate a missing-person investigation into his son's disappearance by either Army or civilian authorities. Failing in that effort, he returned home. About two weeks later he enlisted the support of his congressman, who had the clout to push the Army to investigate Richard Davis as a missing person. At first, the men in Davis's platoon stonewalled. Then, as the Army pressed its cross-examinations, a single soldier repeated a rumor that had been circulating: four members of the platoon had killed Davis and left his body in a wooded area, and he identified both the men and the area. The area fell under the jurisdiction of the Columbus (Georgia) Police Department, which promptly investigated and quickly located remains of the victim. The same day that remains were found, the Army arrested the four members of Richard Davis's platoon identified as responsible and delivered them into civilian custody.

The stories the men told authorities were of an alcohol-fueled night on the town, their first since returning from six months in Iraq, that turned violent. After being evicted from a club, the group was angry with the victim, whose rowdy behavior, it was claimed, was responsible for their eviction, and an argument ensued in the club's parking lot between the victim and one of the group. Then, so their stories went, the group got into their car and left, but as they drove the argument continued. They stopped at an unfamiliar location, got out of the car, and a fistfight ensued between the victim and the fellow with who he had been arguing. But at some point, one of the men pulled a knife and began stabbing the victim. The others claimed to have tried unsuccessfully to intervene. Afterwards, they dragged the body into a more secluded area, and later they returned with gasoline and set it afire. No one involved with the case believes this version of events - it is far more plausible that three of the group were active participants in the victim's death - but the confessions were enough to secure two convictions: one for murder and one for voluntary manslaughter. (The fourth person, whose presence in the group that night was deemed incidental, received five years probation.) The convictions satisfied authorities but not Lanny Davis, who believes his son was killed because he had knowledge of a rape committed in Iraq by the perpetrators, and he remains angry that has not been investigated.

Throughout the film, the Army is portrayed as impeding the investigation, of covering up, and of not cooperating with local authorities, which, as the record shows, is not true. Neither is it true that the civilian authorities were eager to avoid investigating the case. Lanny Davis did not play Sherlock Holmes and conduct his own investigation; neither did he beat a suspect (he first saw the accused at trial). The civilian detective played by Charlize Theron is fiction. (You'll have to ask Mr. Haggis why her fellow detectives and superiors are portrayed as sexist pigs.) There was no cell phone rich with imagery of soldiers acting badly; no suicide. Richard Davis's only sibling is a sister. (In the film he supposedly had a brother who was killed while a soldier, in a helicopter crash, which plays into an emotional scene in which Susan Sarandon asks Tommy Lee Jones something to the effect of "couldn't you have left me one?", suggesting that the father encouraged both his sons to join the military. In fact, Lanny Davis did not encourage his only son to join.)

Furthermore, the film seems to suggest that the killers were fine, upstanding young men so dehumanized by what they saw and experienced as soldiers in Iraq that not only could they viciously kill one of their own, they could be hungry enough afterwards to require stopping for fast food. In fact, the three soldiers convicted of Richard Davis's death were hardly fine or upstanding, a fact that leads to the more interesting question: what happens when we send misfits into an environment like Iraq. And as for stopping for fast food afterwards, I found nothing in the record to suggest that is anything but dramatic license. (Lanny Davis dismisses the suggestion that post-traumatic stress syndrome played a role in his son's murder.)

Some aspects of the film may be inspired by actual incidents, but incidents that had nothing to do with the Richard Davis case and which were included, depending on your perspective, either to stack the deck against the policies and institutions whom the director targets, or to make the film "more universal." For example, a woman tells Charlize Theron's character that her husband (a veteran of Iraq) drowned their dog in their bathtub, that she's afraid he will hurt her, and she appeals for the authorities to intervene. The response of Ms. Theron's character is to suggest the woman have her husband seek help from the VA. Of course, the woman is later found drowned in her bathtub. To avoid possible ambush, did Lanny Davis's son run over an Iraqi child rather than stop the vehicle he was driving? No. Might these two incidents be based on real events? Yes. Does their inclusion in this story make it more universal? You be the judge.

Tommy Lee Jones's performance has been justly praised, and he is ably supported by others of the cast. But the problem here is not the performances, it's the script. The film touches upon important issues but does so dishonestly in its quest to make the story "feel more universal."

5 out of 5 stars

A Terrifyingly Honest Examination of the Effects of War February 21, 2008
27 out of 38 found this review helpful

As this country continues to struggle with the tragedies inflicted upon all who are being singed and scorched by the Iraq War (and that includes every citizen of this country, whether directly or indirectly), films addressing this war are wither avoided by the theatrical audiences or cause flare reactions of judgment. Into this milieu writer (with Mark Boal) and director Paul Haggis places this painful examination of the effects and aftershocks of war in the persona of a father whose only son is reported as 'missing' after he has returned from his tour of duty in Iraq. By keeping the story focused on the effect of the devastation on one man Haggis makes his point all the more clear, and the result is one of the finest documents of the insanity of war that has been released in some years.

Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) has served in the military and encouraged both his sons to serve their country (much against the emotional reaction of his wife Joan - Susan Sarandon): his older son is killed in a helicopter crash and his younger son, recently returned from a year's duty in Iraq, is reported as missing. Hank drives to the base where his son was stationed, learns of his son's death 'by friendly fire' at home, and tries t enlist the help of the military to investigate the affair without success. He encounters a sullen police detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) who appears bruised by life in general and by her prejudiced co-workers and military men in particular. Gradually Emily sides with the grieving Hank to explore the horrid details of Hank's son's brutal murder, dismemberment and burning. Despite endless barriers of red tape and military secrecy lead by Lt. Kirklander (Jason Patric) both Emily and Hank slowly piece together the truth, using email videos Hank's son had sent him from Iraq, interviews with Hank's son's fellow soldiers, and examination of the body parts of Hank's son. Once the truth is out the effects on all concerned reveal the inevitable permanent scars of war on all concerned. Yet it is the strength of character as revealed in Hank's responses that drive home the pungent message of this difficult film.

Tommy Lee Jones gives the most subtle performance of his fine career as the grieving yet stoic Hank. Charlize Theron once again proves that she can disappear into a demanding role like few other actresses. Susan Sarandon, Jason Patric, James Franco (in a tiny but pivotal role), Josh Brolin, Frances Fisher (in a cameo that is very impressive), and all the young men who play the soldiers involved in the investigation are superb. The film pulls no punches, yet it also refrains from sensationalizing events - as though Haggis realized that the truth was viciously cruel enough without embellishment. Special mention should be paid to the fine musical score by Mark Isham, a pulsating, minimalist background that heightens the effect of the film. This may be a difficult film to watch but it is a necessary experience if we are to constantly re-evaluate our philosophy of war and intervention. Grady Harp, February 08

5 out of 5 stars

A Masterpiece! February 6, 2008
23 out of 26 found this review helpful

There have been many films about the aftermath of war, but never have I seen such a brutally honest and shocking depiction of the de-humanization of soldiers back from war. This is the underlying premise of the new crime thriller from academy award winning writer/director Paul Haggis (Crash).

Hank Deerfield (played by Tommy Lee Jones) is a retired veteran and military police officer searching for his son who has gone AWOL. A detective Emily Sanders (played by Charlize Theron) becomes interested in the case and starts helping Hank outside of her job. When Hank's son's body is found, the search suddenly turns into a search for the murderer.

One of the many aspects I appreciated was that director Haggis did not turn this into a typical Hollywood crime thriller and also not turn it into a political propaganda piece against the war and President Bush. Instead he mixes the two plots together seamless and subtle, letting you decide for your self.

Tommy Lee Jones gives the best performance of his long career as he plays a quiet, emotionless war vet, but still shows tremendous amount of emotion. Just watching his face as he sits in a diner and listens to one of his retired friends tell him about plans to go visit his grandchildren is heartbreaking. We can almost see the internal emotional struggle as he realizes he will never be able to do that. Charlize Theron does a wonderful job as the detective, and despite her small screen time Susan Surandon plays the grieving wife of Jones to perfection.

This film is such a moving masterpiece on so many levels it is simply wonderful to watch. The quiet pacing of the film building up to the climax is captivatingly intense in its own way. I am sure this will be a popular film at the Oscars this year, and if they gave out awards for best scene this would be sure to garner a nomination for a simple, poignant, yet profoundly moving scene when Frank tells the story of David and Goliath (which took place in the Valley of Elah) to the little son of detective Sanders.

5 out of 5 stars

Signals of distress December 31, 2007
20 out of 31 found this review helpful

The movie shows the devastation that this war causes to America. It does this with high intensity and without any cheap political shots. One might even say it manages to keep its subject out of the political area. It does not discuss the question whether the invasion ought to have been done in first place, it only shows how the role of occupiers in a civil war constellation destroys the life of the soldiers of the occupying force. Its subject is not the dead on either side, but the destruction in the souls and minds of those who survive.
The movie shows that Hollywood has not become entirely irrelevant; it is an argument against those who claim that Hollywood has nothing to add to civilization, or that its influence is only devaluing morality.
It also shows that films can be made with more than making money in mind.
And a personal lesson: if you ever receive signals of distress from your son or daughter, please listen, or you might have to regret it like T.L.Jones.

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