Review of In the Valley of Elah (2007) by Armando P — 19 Dec 2016

I was reluctant to see this as I'm not a big fan of Paul Haggis and the ridiculous stereotyping of Los Angeles he did in Crash. Given that Haggis is British, I was reluctant to see another European projection and critique of America that would be oversimplifying and cliche, but Mark Boal (Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) was a contributing writer and that is the only reason I decided to watch the film, and I was thoroughly surprised.

The cast is amazing - and surprisingly believable performances from all the actors, including the shorter performances of all the soldiers at the base. The restraint exercised by the actors in the characters they portray is what really makes the acting superb and realistic.

I watched it twice; the second time around Theron's character becomes a bit annoying; and the ending of the upside down flag is a bit corny, but the rest of the cast, and the balance of a somber tone combined with the calculating process of uncovering of a murder surprisingly strikes the perfect key.