In the Valley of Elah (2007)

Director:

Paul Haggis

Writers (WGA):

Paul Haggis (screenplay)
Mark Boal (story) ...

Release Date:

28 September 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Sometimes finding the truth is easier than facing it.

Plot:

A career officer and his wife work with a police detective to uncover the truth behind their son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Whiskey | Apology | Hanged Body | Military

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones	...	Hank Deerfield
Charlize Theron	...	Det. Emily Sanders
Jason Patric	...	Lt. Kirklander
Susan Sarandon	...	Joan Deerfield
James Franco	...	Sgt. Dan Carnelli
Barry Corbin	...	Arnold Bickman
Josh Brolin	...	Chief Buchwald
Frances Fisher	...	Evie
Wes Chatham	...	Corporal Steve Penning
Jake McLaughlin	...	Spc. Gordon Bonner
Mehcad Brooks	...	Spc. Ennis Long
Jonathan Tucker	...	Mike Deerfield
Wayne Duvall	...	Detective Nugent
Victor Wolf	...	Private Robert Ortiez
Brent Briscoe	...	Detective Hodge

Also Known As:

Death and Dishonor (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violent and disturbing content, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | USA:R | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Taiwan:R-12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Germany:12 | Japan:PG-12 | Brazil:14 | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | South Korea:15 | Australia:MA | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Canada:14A | Singapore:M18 | Sweden:11

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Blackfriars Bridge Films

Trivia:

Josh Brolin replaced Tim McGraw in the role of Chief Buchwald.

Goofs:

Continuity: If you follow closely Det. Emily Sanders' car plate, one scene shows the plate, another does not and so on.

Quotes:

Chief Buchwald: [calling Emily Sanders] Remember the woman with the dead dog?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-04-02)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Caprichio

In the Valley of Elah

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.