In The Valley of Elah
Review By Matthew Rodgers
Its Paul Haggis’ go on the current war movie merry-go-round with the “inspired by true events” In the Valley of Elah (the legendary battle ground on which David felled Goliath). Avoiding the political trappings of Lions for Lambs, the satirical sideswipes of Charlie Wilson’s War and the all out balls-to-the-wall action of The Kingdom, Haggis plays to his strengths and focuses on the human dilemmas that have permeated his previous success’ Crash (director), The Last Kiss, and more appropriately Flags of Our Fathers (the latter two as writer).
Staunch patriot and military veteran Hank Dearfield (Tommy Lee Jones) has already lost one son in battle, so to receive a bleary eyed phone call concerning the whereabouts of his remaining son Mike, is a call that both he and his wife Joan (Susan Sarandon) had hoped would never happen. What follows is a fathers attempt to find out what fate has beset his son by negotiating jurisdictional and personal obstacles in search of the truth.
The General’s Daughter, Basic,and A Few Good Men are the obstacles that Haggis should have worried about because Elah is simply a pic ‘n’ mix of not necessarily better movies, but ones that leave you with that “seen it all before” feeling as army barrack conspiracy gives way to duplicitous soldier interviews and the odd requisite action scene to wake you from the tedium. It doesn’t have an awful lot thats new to say about the conflict either, bar the de-humanisation of these young men exposed to the horrors overseas, but for that read Jarhead and The Deer Hunter.
What lifts this above its mediocre ambitions is unsurprisingly Tommy Lee Jones, here at his archetypal world weary best; rocking back and forth on his motel bed as he breaks the news to his wife is intimately powerful, juxtapose that with the animalistic beating of a young soldier, it is an award baiting performance thats as detailed as the lines on his face and is on a par with his No Country For Old Men turn. Charlize Theron does a Monster (no make-up) to lend able support as the wet-behind-the-ears detective struggling being a single mother in a sexist workplace. It is without question a strong cast featuring Sarandon (wasted), Robert Patrick (uninspired), Josh Brolin (The Comeback Kid) and James Franco (blink and you’ll miss him) who obviously signed on because of the Haggis effect.
But in this instance said effect is mundane direction and a script peppered with smatterings of jingoism – despite the hugely downbeat final shot – that despite Lee-Jones, never makes this dreary drama a must-see movie.
