IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH Review
Al Gore’s college roommate Tommy Lee Jones is the ultimate force that gives life to this military drama. Nobody’s ever doubted that Tommy is one hell of an actor even when he did some stupid roles in the past like Two-Face in Batman Forever. You can always count on Tommy bringing his A game that’s 110% percent. The presence of another… Oscar winner Charlize Theron only validates this intense, gripping, and human movie. Didn’t I mention to you before my favorite screenwriters were? Paul Haggis, David Mamet, and Quentin Tarantino!
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH is written and directed by none other than Paul ‘the real deal’ Haggis. I gave that ‘the real deal’ nickname 
Paul is also known for having written other amazing stories like Million Dollar Baby, Letters from Iwo Jima, Flags of Our Fathers, Crash, Casino Royale and the upcoming Bond 22.
Old school Sargeant Hank (Tommy Lee Jones) hears about his son soldier Mike gone AWOL. A body is found and the worst news a parent could hear is released. With the help of detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), Hank is going to investigate and uncover the truth.
Paul Haggis’ films are usually profound and moving. In this case, he uses the story of David and Goliath and the valley of Elah to emphasize fear and how we need to look it in the eye and face it head on. Hank knows that there are going to be giant obstacles that would get in the way of his finding out what happened to his son, lies after lies, and Emily no longer wants to be the butt of the joke in the office like little David was among his peers.
Paul Haggis’ films don’t use too much fancy original score and other ways that other filmmakers would do to spice up their films. But the real power of IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH is in the writing, the dialogue, the words spoken would leave you awestruck.
Many assume that this movie is anti-war and that it has an agenda of going against Pres. Bush, etc. Some even say that this movie demeans those who fight for freedom.
But to me, it’s not about that. It’s about the impact that war has on the soldiers who’ve seen hell and lived through it. It’s about understanding the trauma resulting from taking someone’s life and how war changes a person into someone who’s capable of something that we never thought he/she could do in a million years.
IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH is by far in my opinion the best movie of the year. I highly recommend it.
* Place the cursor on the picture below to check my rating for this film
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2 Comments so far
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I can’t really respond because I haven’t seen it. However, if it is anti-war as many on both sides of the issue seem to think, then it is ironic that the movie would advocate (paraphrasing you) ‘facing fear head on’ while at the same time be against the Iraq war.
Unfortunately, President Bush mismanaged the war and maybe overstated (I prefer misstated) the reasons for going to war. I say misstate, because there were definitely reasons to go, just not the reasons he stressed.
To get to the point (and avoid an Iraq war debate) the other side has now seemed to understate the reasons for going to war. Some even claim Iraq was never an enemy. I can’t even imagine possessing such bad memory.
My point is, I have heard that this is another recycled anti-war movie. I may actually have to check it out based on your review. I’ll be surprised if I can sit through it though.
you’ll be more than surprised.. you’ll think it’s one of the most well made movie of the year.