When "Fahrenheit 9/11" (2004) came out in theaters across the nation, audiences turned up en masse to see it. Many Americans were looking forward to a film that criticized the war in Iraq and persuaded those on the fence to ask tough questions about the conflict.
Somehow, few have been as eagerly anticipating the release of "In the Valley of Elah" - an unfair fact given that this movie, though smaller in scope and in media hype, provides an equally persuasive and a far more intimate portrait of the life of an American soldier and the effects of war in Iraq.
"In the Valley of Elah" is a story about Hank Deerfield (played by Tommy Lee Jones), an ex-sergeant and father of current soldier Mike (Jonathan Tucker). When his commanding officer calls to inform Hank that his son has gone AWOL from the military base after returning from his tour in Iraq, Hank takes it upon himself to find out the truth.
Hank investigates the lives of Mike and his fellow soldiers, but, as is so often the case, he finds out more about his son than he ever wanted to know. Soon, Hank accompanies the lead detective on the case, Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), as they try to piece together what happened to Mike in the hours he was off the base. Hank's wife, Joan (Susan Sarandon) is mostly left at home, wondering what has happened to her beloved child and, in one powerful scene, blaming her husband for all that has happened to her family.
Directed and written by Paul Haggis, the Oscar winning filmmaker of "Crash" (2004), and inspired by actual events, "In the Valley of Elah" is another fine film filled with drama and heartache. Haggis uses understatement and silence to pull us into the story and make us feel for the characters. Some scenes juxtapose the light of the new day with the darkness of human shadows, symbols of peace and war that are so subtle they do not eclipse the heart of the story, which, at its core, is simply a family looking for answers. The melancholic tone set by the director and actors moves the audience like a gentle current. This is quite a feat for such a persuasive anti-war film, especially considering the harshness and volume of others that have gone before.
It is a testament to the skills of Jones and Theron how well this movie connects with the audience despite its depressing tone and minimal dialogue. Jones does an especially good job carrying the weight of the film, expressing more in mere looks and faces than he did through words in both "Men in Black" films (1997, 2002) and the awesomely terrible "Space Cowboys" (2000).
Theron does well with the typical role of a woman trying to prove her worth in a male-dominated, law enforcement office. She does so well, in fact, that one could almost forget the year of "North Country" and "Aeon Flux" (2005) and remember back to her Oscar-winning performance in 2003's "Monster." While it is surprising to see Theron wearing a suit and looking sensible - arguably in another "ugly part" - she quickly proves her on-screen worth, even opposite a commanding costar. Sarandon, though featured in few scenes, once again exhibits her sound acting ability.
Unfortunately, most of the successes of "In the Valley of Elah" come toward the end, when the story of what has occurred between comrades finally unravels, after a bit of dragging. Throughout, Hank watches video clips taken from his son's cell phone and sees firsthand what his son did and said during his year and a half overseas. The other soldiers, however, begin truly talking about their experiences or, in some cases, about not talking about them during the final minutes. Once the audience hears and sees what these soldiers did to Iraqis, to each other, and even to themselves, the regrettable truth comes out.
To most of us, wartime ends on the battlefield, thousands of miles away. "In the Valley of Elah" shows that you can take the boy out of the war, but perhaps you can never take the war out of the boy. Ultimately, that is all that our soldiers are: young boys far away from their mothers and fathers, transformed by combat into either heroes or casualties. And, as one of the film's characters so aptly puts it, "They shouldn't send heroes to places like Iraq."
