Search - In the Valley of Elah on DVD

Vicki H. (WNCadventurer)
Reviewed on 1/8/2023...

The movie has a slow burn throughout - tensive. A good Whodunnit. The movie also shows how The Service mindset + policies have changed across two generations. My tangent now follows: I am absolutely livid with Theron, who IN REAL LIFE survived her dad shooting at her + her mom during childhood (ending with her mom shooting + killing her dad in front of her) and now claims to be an advocate for DV Survivors. Yet, her character dismisses a very scared woman in her office without noticing the VERY high risk + VERY common red flag for an immanent DV event. The complaint is VALID to address with police who blindly brush her off + even overtly mock her. Theron's character deems the woman's concern beneath her as a cop to handle. Yet per Theron's real life experience, she  should have haulted that scene to chat with the writers/director. Myself a counselor + DV Survivor advocate, I want everyone to know a guy who "does what was done in the movie" in front of wife + kids IS being violent. The clear act of intimidation screams "this could be you." Plus I know of at least 2 charges which could have been initiated there. In this movie, the police did nothing to "serve + protect" that family. Just a sad message for the character + actor herself to put out there - smh - Theron!

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Gabriele J. from NEWARK, CA
Reviewed on 7/25/2010...

Haunting. Don't watch if you are a knee-jerk "patriot".

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Jean W. from JORDANVILLE, NY
Reviewed on 10/12/2009...

A really good movie. Tommy Lee Jones is terrific. Highly recommended.

0 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Peter Q. (Petequig)
Reviewed on 10/5/2009...

Powerful treatment of the aftermath of war on young soldiers. A first rate detective story. A Father who would not give up his search for the truth about his son.

1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Tommy Lee Jones is brilliant, brilliant, brilliant

Jody | Northwest Ohio | 06/20/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The over long Valley of Elah delivers its anti-war sermon with all the subtlety of a sledghammer. Trust us, we get it. War turns people into creatures their parents don't recognize. It always has and it always will--that's what war is, and several much better movies have addressed it, like The Deer Hunter and Born on the Fourth of July. If VOE had contented itself with being a murder mystery and character study and let us draw our own conclusions on the order of The Hurt Locker, it would have been a much more powerful film. As it is, we're bludgeoned by both the main plot and an unnecessary subplot about an Army wife who is terrified of her husband. Throw in an element about how the flag is flown just in case we missed things the first time around, and the message becomes borderline insulting.

Inspired by a true story as is most fiction, the gist of the plot is that Pvt. Mike Deerfield has gone AWOL shortly after returning from combat in Iraq. His father Hank, who just happens to be an ex MP is alerted to Mike's status by a phone call from the base attempting to locate him. Hank solves the case despite the obstacles and lack of enthusiasm he gets from the Army and the local police and some very painful information he unearths. And oh, yeah--did I tell you the Army and the local police weren't helping much? The title comes from the Biblical location of David's epic slaying of Goliath, but I have no idea what that has to do with this story.

*Spoiler Alert*
What is given the buildup for a grand conspiracy turns out to be a squalid, pointless Saturday night crime rather easily solved.

That said, this movie is a must see for the splendid acting which makes the weak script irrelevant. Charlize Theron is a wonderfully understated detective, Susan Sarandon is heartbreaking as Mike's mother, and Josh Brolin is a splendid good ol' boy police chief. The standout however, is Tommy Lee Jones' exquisitely nuanced performance. As Hank, Jones manages to balance and make believable an experienced investigator's exasperation with incompetence, a father's guilt, love and pain, and a soldier's discipline. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen and thank goodness the director had enough sense to spend a lot of time on Jones' face. At best, this movie would rate two stars for script alone, and three stars only without Jones' stunning performance. See this movie for the acting alone. It's worth it."