Review of In the Valley of Elah (2007) by Larry S — 22 Nov 2008
Okay, okay - I should promise to put politics aside, and I managed to do so until the final three minutes of this film, so I'll start with the positives, of which there were many. Paul Haggis crafted a very good follow-up to "Crash," with this story of a determined father's quest to find the truth regarding his soldier-son's disappearance.
Haggis' screenplay is riveting, and actually quite believable (there's the politics again - I expected this film to be much more preachy and full of anti-Iraq-involvement sentiment than it turned out to be), with the characters fully developed and very believable in their given settings.
Sadly, the final scene of the film left me with a VERY sour taste, as the distraught father willfully commits an act that any non-commissioned officer, as he supposedly was, would know is grossly disrespectful, if not tantamount to treason.
Such a disappointing conclusion to an otherwise wonderful story prevents me from rating this film as highly as I would've liked.
This review of In the Valley of Elah (2007) was written by Larry S on 22 Nov 2008.
In the Valley of Elah has generally received positive reviews.
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