In the Valley of Elah (Blu-ray Disc)
The running time is 2 hrs. 4 mins..
When his son is reported AWOL, Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) says goodbye to his fearful wife Joan (Susan Sarandon) and takes matters into his own hands heading to the military base to see if he can figure out what is going on. After his boy's body is discovered mutilated in an empty fusty field, the ex-Army MP teams up with embittered and embattled Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) to uncover the killer dodging military interference every step of the way.
Even when things begin to look their darkest and as promising leads turn to frustrating dead ends, Hank does not give hope of finding justice for his son. But when the truth of what happened in Iraq begins to come out, this hardcore military man's world is shaken to the core, the answers to his questions more earth shattering to his beliefs then any he ever could have imagined.
When thinking about this film, I find myself unable to do anything more than repeat much of what I've said about it before. This is a story about aftermath, a saga about what happens after the bullets have fired and the warriors have fought their enemies. It is about the cost of doing what's right when the mission and message are unclear. It is about taking orders, following them and then having to live with the consequences afterwards.
The movie isn't exactly anti-military (the soldiers if anything are depicted as heroic figures destroyed by an unjust conflict) but it doesn't exactly rally folks to the flag, either. For some this is going to be a far too ugly wakeup call; seeing the effects of a war our political administration has sent our loved ones into may be too much for many viewers to bear, and the shabby box office this one accrued last September obviously makes my point for me.
Like all the pictures concerned with Iraq, Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East this one, too, failed to make a dent at the turnstile. What audiences unfortunately missed was something absolutely extraordinary, and while some will be horrified by Hank's final actions, considering the horrific losses he and his wife have suffered, I think they're more than justified.
On the plus side, Jones' peers did not forget either him or this film and nominated him for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Coupled with his masterful work in the Coen brothers' Best Picture-winning No Country for Old Men, the veteran actor had a phenomenal year in 2007. His work here is as complex, multilayered and magnificent as any he's ever delivered in his career.
Warner Independent's Blu-ray release of the film is decent and nothing more. There is a great deleted scene (an entire subplot involving an ex-girlfriend, actually) that, as good as it is, probably should have stayed excised from the finished project. There is also a fine two-part documentary detailing the making of the motion picture with Haggis talking in detail of the true story which inspired the flick.
Red State, Blue State, all states, this movie offers food for thought no matter what your political persuasion. Film, at its finest, should provide fodder for intense discussion, both good and bad. It should have the guts to discuss and dissect the events of the time, the temerity to debate the merits of society today. Haggis does this with passionate intelligence. In the Valley of Elah burrows deep to the heart of the matter, forcing audiences to linger uncomfortably while still allowing them to come up with their own answers to all of the questions in their own time.