In the Valley of Elah (2007)

A retired military investigator works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Director:

Paul Haggis

Writers:

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

Stars:

Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Jonathan Tucker

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 4 wins & 12 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Roman Arabia	...	Private Robert Ortiez (as Victor Wolf)
Brent Briscoe	...	Detective Hodge

Storyline

In Monroe, Tennessee, Hank Deerfield, an aging warrior, gets a call that his son, just back from 18 months' fighting in Iraq, is missing from his base. Hank drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to search. Within a day, the charred and dismembered body of his son is found on the outskirts of town. Deerfield pushes himself into the investigation, marked by jurisdictional antagonism between the Army and local police. Working mostly with a new detective, Emily Sanders, Hank seems to close in on what happened. Major smuggling? A drug deal gone awry? Credit card slips, some photographs, and video clips from Iraq may hold the key. If Hank gets to the truth, what will it tell him?

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Plot Keywords:

iraq | military | police | detective | disappearance | 

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Taglines:

One Father's Fight To Find The Truth.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan] Warner Bros [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dans la vallée d'Elah

Filming Locations:

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£345,185 (UK) (25 January 2008)

Gross:

$6,777,589 (USA) (15 February 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Independent Pictures (WIP), NALA Films, Summit Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Takes its title from the Bible - Elah was the valley where David met Goliath.

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Goofs

The envelope holding the folded flag would have to be much larger than the prop used in the film.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Spc. Gordon Bonner: What are you doing? Get back in the fucking vehicle man! Mike, get back in the fucking vehicle. Let's go, Mike, now!

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Connections

Featured in Miss Representation (2011)

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Soundtracks

This Mess
Written by Joel Byrne
Performed by Wolf & Cub
Courtesy of 4AD Ltd/Remote Control/Dot Dash Recordings

User Reviews

A film that takes on a daring theme

And with the war still on, the theme of PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - is topical and relevant. Shell shock, they used to call it. It is more than shells these days, of course - it is the killing of children and innocents which has an appalling and destabilizing effect on the young U.S. men and women soldiers engaged in Iraq.

Paul Haggis who has made Crash amongst other good films, tackles this difficult subject with sensitivity depicting the dehumanization of the soldiers who come home to an indifferent populace.

Hank Deerfield (played by Tommy Lee Jones) is a retired Vietnam veteran who investigates the disappearance of his son and comes up against the brick wall of military police. A sympathetic detective, Emily Sanders (played by Charlize Theron) slowly takes an interest in the case and negotiates with her superior officer to take the case back from the military police who want to brush it under the rug. When Mike Deerfield is found, dismembered and scattered, Hank commits himself to getting at the truth.

This film is not an anti-war effort but rather the facts are all presented, and one is left to come to one's own conclusions.

Tommy Lee Jones gives one of his best performances here, a relentless, humourless driven father, who has not been the best father, but doesn't rest until he finds the closure he desperately needs on the matter of the murder of his son.

Susan Sarandon was totally underused in the part of the mother of Mike, but the little we are shown of her is riveting.

Charlize Theron plays down her beauty to the degree that she wears bandages and bruises on her face through many of the scenes and ignores the rampant sexism of her unit. A great performance.

I didn't care for the Valley of Elah metaphor which is at the core of the movie itself. The David and Goliath story did not have a relevance to a story of PTSD and the horrific effects it has on both perpetrators and victims. So I am left puzzled at this symbolism. A little guy taking on a giant? Who would be the little guy? The Iraqis?

However, that vexation aside, for overall tension and the sheer watchability of Mr. Jones in a meaty role, this movie gets an 8 out of 10 from me.

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