Review of In the Valley of Elah (2007) by Arseniy V — 17 Aug 2011

Thought it was just a whodunnit, but turned out to be about much more. A dedramatized, tough, authentic and genuine anti-war message without any attempts of embellishment or propaganda. Definitely better than Haggis previous directorial effort, he seems to have learned a few tricks from his frequent collaborator in tough minimalism.

Roger Deakins wintry, bleached-out cinematography neatly matches the generally bleak and unsentimental tone and Jones' scraped-dry delivery. There are several scenes where he shows more with a glance or facial movement than could've been conveyed with pages of dialogue.