At a Glance

Tommy Lee Jones plays Hank Deerfield, a retired military man investigating the mysterious disappearance of his soldier son, Mike. Charlize Theron is the civilian homicide cop in the small town near the base where Mike recently returned from a term of combat in Iraq. When this unlikely pair ends up investigating the mystery together, they encounter some suspicious covering-up from the army. Deerfield gets access to his son’s camera phone which contains startling video footage from combat overseas

Detailed Information

In The Valley of Elah
By Kevin Baker, Blockbuster.co.uk

Sometimes finding the truth is easier than facing it

Academy Award winning actors Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron team up for deep and emotional thriller ‘In The Valley of Elah’. Written and directed by the man who brought us Crash in 2004, Paul Higgins delivers the story of a police detective who tries to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.

Retired Sgt. Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) gets a distress call from his son Mike (Jonathan Tucker) before Mike goes AWOL at the army base. The army plays him around, and the local authorities won't give him any attention either, they insist on Hank contacting the military police.

Then a burned, dismembered body is found near the military base. Mike's identity is confirmed. Whilst suppressing his grief and comforting his wife (Susan Sarandon), Hank is determined to find out what happened and who killed his son.

At first, since the murder appears to have happened within military grounds, the case is out of the police's jurisdiction. They believe it's a drug deal gone bad. A sharp observer, Hank convinces Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) it's a cover-up. Sanders opens an active investigation against her colleagues' scrutiny.

The circumstances lead Hank and Sanders to suspect a few of Mike's bunkmates, but there is not enough evidence to convince Sanders' superiors or the army to do anything. Frustration leads Mike to conduct his own investigations. What he finds shatters his own convictions.

A mystery at the core and inspired by true events, In the Valley of Elah is actually a complex social drama examining some tough issues that will without doubt generate debates and discussions.

I enjoyed this movie and I think it’s one of those war films that will work simply because its not directly about the war itself but the consequences and the conditioning of the soldiers that take part.

Without being too preachy the film gives us a clear direction and an important underlying message that serves to be both informative and intriguing. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.