Movie review: In the Valley of Elah

by Alex Bentley

Paul Haggis has, over the last few years, become the go-to guy for excellence in screenwriting, mostly thanks to his association with Clint Eastwood. He was nominated for an Oscar for Million Dollar Baby, won two Oscars (Best Picture, Screenplay) for his directing debut, Crash, and was nominated for writing last year’s stellar Letters from Iwo Jima. He also wrote Iwo Jima’s companion piece, Flags of Our Fathers, the underrated The Last Kiss, and Casino Royale, widely considered to be the best James Bond film in years. So, yeah, you could say the guy is on a roll.

So now Haggis has done what anybody would do in his position – use his considerable leverage to make a deeply personal film. In this case, Haggis has made In the Valley of Elah, a film that is among a slew of others this fall to take a critical slant on the current war in Iraq, but also one that does so in a much more subtle manner than, say, Michael Moore. Haggis’ method is actually quite sneaky – his case against the war and the effects it’s had/having on our soldiers builds slowly over the course of the film, each little bit setting you up for a powerful ending.

Tommy Lee Jones plays Hank Deerfield, who finds out in the first scene of the film that his son Mike (Jonathan Tucker) has gone missing upon his return to the States from Iraq. Hank sets out for Mike’s army post, determined to get to the bottom of his disappearance despite running into red tape from both military and city police. What starts off as an investigation, however, evolves into something much deeper, as Hank comes to discover unsettling things about both his son and the men he served with.

Haggis sets up the twists and turns in Elah well, turning Hank from a proud former member of the military into someone who has a quite reasonable crisis of conscience. Jones has a quiet fury and confidence throughout, imbuing Hank with just enough gravitas that you rarely question his motives or methods. Charlize Theron plays well off of Jones as Det. Emily Sanders, a city detective who tries to help Hank.

Strangely, Haggis is able to effectively get his point across even when failing to deliver story-wise. Gaps in logic open up the deeper you get into the investigation, and the resolution to Mike’s disappearance feels rushed and unfinished. But Haggis knows exactly how to deliver his message even with that lack, quietly thumping the anti-war beat in showing what a negative impact the horrific things the soldiers see and do has on them. Is it manipulative? Well, yeah, but in pretty much the same way that nearly every film manipulates you to get its point across. What I was impressed with the most was the way Haggis restrained his manipulations here, as opposed to Crash. In Elah, images often rule over words, and you have to pay close attention to catch all of them. The final image is impossible to miss, though, and for my money, it’s one of the most powerful ending images of a film in some time, made all the more powerful by the absence of someone explaining why it’s so powerful.

One final note – the title refers to the location of the famous Biblical battle between David and Goliath, which Hank recounts at one point to Emily’s son. I have never been blessed with the ability to decipher symbolism in films, so I really don’t know if Haggis is trying to say that Iraq is Goliath and the U.S. is David (doubtful), vice versa (maybe, but also doubtful), or U.S. soldiers are David and the military/government is Goliath (perhaps). I’m glad that Haggis chose not to beat the audience over the head with his agenda overall, but I could have used a little more explanation in this case.