http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/09/24/IN-THE-VALLEY-OF-ELAH-A-Poignant-Meditation-On-The.aspx Are the men and women we send to war ever the same ones that come back to us? This is the central question poised again and again throughout In The Valley of Elah, the latest film by Academy Award-winning writer/director Paul Haggis. The title is a reference to the supposed valley where David slew Goliath with his slingshot—a thinly veiled (and questionable) metaphor for the courage young soldiers must summon while at war. Interestingly enough the film does not show a single second of combat. The central plotline actually unfolds stateside, when retired Sgt. Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) receives a phone call that his son, Mike, has gone missing from his base. Unaware that his son had even returned from his tour in Iraq, Hank departs for the base, to see if he can’t track his son down before the boy gets listed as AWOL. If you haven’t seen the trailers, it’s no spoiler to tell you that Mike soon turns of dead, having been stabbed repeatedly, his body hacked to pieces and burnt to crisp. Of course the military, always preferring to clean its own house, usurps the jurisdiction of the local police, launching their own “investigation” of the crime. This is not enough for Hank (a former Military-Police detective,) who smells a cover-up brewing. For outside assistance he cajoles put-upon Det. Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) of the local P.D. to help get the answers Hank so desperately needs as a grieving father. The pair investigates the crime and the truth is eventually uncovered—though in the end, the answers prove more unsettling than the mystery. en-US Critics Rant info@criticsrant.com Subtext Version 1.9.4.0 http://www.criticsrant.com/images/default_gravatar_bullhorn.png http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/09/24/IN-THE-VALLEY-OF-ELAH-A-Poignant-Meditation-On-The.aspx 77 60 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/09/24/IN-THE-VALLEY-OF-ELAH-A-Poignant-Meditation-On-The.aspx#1691 Great review, Kof. Loved the movie, but it was so sad. Couldn't believe how anti-military it was. Genny http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/09/24/IN-THE-VALLEY-OF-ELAH-A-Poignant-Meditation-On-The.aspx#1691 Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:26:46 GMT