In the Valley of Elah

SYNOPSIS

Paul Haggis's directorial follow-up to his Oscar-winning Crash features a powerful performance from Tommy Lee Jones as the father of a missing soldier, recently returned from Iraq. When it appears as though US Army officials are orchestrating a cover-up, Hank Deerfield (the Oscar-nominated Jones) joins forces with small-town cop Emily Sanders (a world-weary Charlize Theron) to expose the truth. Inspired by a real-life story, Haggis's script expertly blends all the suspense of a traditional detective thriller with a disturbing, psychological portrait of young men trained to kill. More than anger, it is sympathy that Haggis arouses for their plight, presenting these soldiers as victims robbed of their humanity on the battlefields of Iraq by a government that doesn't care. The gravity of the situation occasionally weighs too heavily and slows the pace, but it's still a compelling watch. A simple image of the Stars and Stripes flying upside down, in tatters, has a greater emotional impact than anything seen in Crash.