Review of In the Valley of Elah (2007) by Kelley H — 30 Nov 2010

This film is a loose interpretation of a true story about a man searching to learn what led up to his son's mysterious death after returning from Iraq; however, its real message is far more than that. Jones' character, Vietnam veteran Hank Deerfield, tells another character the story of David meeting Goliath in the Valley of Elah, a metaphor that runs through every facet of the film, in particular Deerfield's grief. Indeed, who exactly is the giant Deerfield's son faced that led him to his death? Deerfield's journey through the effects of PTSD of the newly returned soldiers provokes questions around their ability to discern right and wrong, and shows him that despite his son's earlier pleas for help and to come home, the boy's judgment and empathy was as impaired as his fellow soldiers. As facts around the son's death are revealed, so, also, is Deerfield's legacy of guilt for pushing his son into service.

Jones and Sarandon delivered fantastic performances, with Theron a little stiff in her role. Some secondary arcs seem out of place in the greater context and don't move the plot along, though they reveal details significant to the supporting cast. Graphic in some places, such details are no more gritty or gratuitous than the evidence of the scarred psyches of the returning soldiers. Qualities of this film rare in so many other war films are its ability to show a range of emotion without being sentimental, to show both depravity and desperation without being maudlin, and to deliver a powerfully personal story about a Universal dilemma.