In the Valley of Elah
Director: Paul Haggis. Screenplay: Paul Haggis. Cinematography: Roger Deakins. Film editing: Jo Francis. Production design: Laurence Bennett. Music: Mark Isham. Producers: Paul Haggis, Laurence Becsey, Patrick Wachsberger, Steven Samuels, Darlene Caamano Loquet. With: Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, James Franco, Jonathan Tucker, Frances Fisher, Jason Patric, Josh Brolin, Wes Chatham, Jake McLaughlin, Mehcad Brooks, Victor Wolf, Sean Huze, Barry Corbin, Wayne Duvall, Brent Briscoe, Greg Serano, Brent Sexton, Devin Brochu, Zoe Kazan, Glenn Taranto, Jennifer Siebel, Joseph R. Millard, Jo Harvey Allen, Hans Steckly. USA. 120 min. 2007.
By David Sterritt
Tommy Lee Jones plays Hank Deerfield, a retired military man whose son has gone mysteriously missing from his army base soon after returning from combat in the Iraq war; determined to discover what happened to him, Hank comes across a seemingly endless series of secrets and lies, each drawing him deeper into frighteningly dark aspects of human nature, and of the American worldview as well. The title refers to the biblical valley in which David and Goliath, flanked by opposing armies, had their legendary encounter in ancient times.
Writer-director Paul Haggis, of “Crash” and “Million Dollar Baby” fame, has structured the story as partly a detective drama—in one of the film’s more contrived touches, we learn that Hank was a military policeman during the Vietnam era—and partly a moody critique of how cruelly and coldheartedly a rich, powerful nation can treat the young people who represent its only hope for a decent future, not to mention a humane one. The last scene is less than subtle in its symbolism, but packs a terrific narrative punch at a time when most of the mass media are either cheerleading for war or watching indolently from the sidelines with hypocritically wrinkled brows. Haggis may yet develop into a sociopolitical filmmaker of real importance.
The movie is greatly enhanced by the eloquent camera work of Roger Deakins, one of today’s most gifted Hollywood cinematographers. In the cast, Jones gives a brave and expressive performance, his face more lined with age, worn with care, and weakened by melancholy than it’s ever been before. His acting gains in power from Haggis’s subtly observational visual style, which is surprisingly similar to that of Jones’s debut film as a director, “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada,” one of the very best pictures of 2005. While the beautiful Charlize Theron is hardly the best choice to portray the tough-minded policewoman who joins Hank on his quest, she brings her character convincingly alive. Susan Sarandon has little to do as Hank’s wife, but she does it well; ditto for most of the supporting players. Although this is far from a perfect film, it’s arguably the boldest and most thoughtful mainstream feature about the military mentality in general, and the Iraq quagmire in particular, to reach multiplex screens since George W. Bush launched his delusional Middle East crusade, which has been so badly conceived and executed as to make this movie’s most far-fetched details seem like sober naturalism alongside it. Haggis’s rueful drama deserves a wide and attentive audience.
