In The Valley of Elah: Review

With Crash, Paul Haggis crafted an overblown, heavy-handed diatribe about the issue of race in America. The film felt painfully simple, dumbing down its complex and difficult subject in order to appeal to the everyday moviegoer. To some, it worked brilliantly, to others (including myself), its inability to present the topic in a three-dimensional and in depth way was frustrating and insulting. By meeting the viewer completely, requiring almost nothing out of his audiences, Haggis created a film for people who felt like race was a dead subject. Thankfully for the rest of us, Haggis rebounds nicely with his latest film In the Valley of Elah, which demonstrates a great deal more restraint, possessing (for the most part) a quiet anger that bubbles to the surface gracefully as opposed to Crash's blatant emotional manipulations.

At the heart of Elah is Tommy Lee Jones' wonderful performance as Hank Deerfield, who goes on a search for his son Mike, who has returned from the war in Iraq but has gone missing from base following his return. Hank is greeted by an early morning call informing him of his son's absence and quickly after a check of his voice and emails, he heads to his son's base in an attempt to find him. After an initial investigation, which turns up nothing, Hank is notified that a body has been found in a field near the base and positively identified as his son. What follows is a series of investigations, by Hank, by the local police (spearheaded by Charlize Theron's Det. Emily Sanders) and the base police, led by Lt. Kirklander (Jason Patric). As the investigation gets deeper and deeper, it becomes clear that the horrors of the current war have followed its veterans home and by the film's heartbreaking finale, it is clear (maybe too clear) that sometimes even the combantants of war should be counted amongst the victims.


Jones' leads the strong cast with a mesmerizing performance that holds the film's emotional weight with grace and a quiet determination. Wonderfully understated by still emotionally powerful, Jones is a seasoned veteran and shows it throughout the film. Jones' intensity is always apparent, yet his performance never turns into any sort of a caricature, allowing Haggis' sometimes one dimensional character to feel realistic and lived in. Crash lacked a performance like Jones' work here and as a result, Haggis' flaws as a director became more noticeable when his dialogue and characterizations suffered in the hands of lesser actors such as Sandra Bullock and Brendan Frasier. While Haggis crafts efficient and memorable screenplays, his direction is often times too heavy handed and over the top, allowing his actors to spiral into a ridiculous simplicity; Haggis' writing soars under the steady hands of more assured directors such as Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Flags of our Fathers) and suffers in the hands of lesser (Tony Goldwyn with The Last Kiss and himself with Crash). However, thanks for Jones, Haggis has found an actor with the chops, experience and imagination to breathe live into his characters, which makes up for his shortcomings as a director.

Haggis is one of the few superstar screenwriters in film today and its easy to see why. His work over the past five or so years, has been both memorable and successful (maybe not always together) as noted by the films mentioned above. He is adapt as utilizing the strongest of emotional situations and efficiently, heavy handed or not, wringing the maximum feeling out of them. In the Valley of Elah is no different and from start to finish, resonates deeply with the viewer like the best of Haggis' work does. At the base level, it is a story about the horrors of war and how it affects it participants, reminding me of films such as Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter (although not quite on that level) or Hal Ashby's Coming Home. The viewer doesn't spend much time in Iraq, only in small flashbacks and video clips, but rather back on the soil of the United States, trying to make some sense of the actions that the country is taking part in. Wisely, Haggis avoids the answers, merely content with posing the questions. As a result, the film hits the viewer a little harder, both intellectually and emotionally and it really isn't until the ham fisted final shot that the film feels at all forced. Haggis is obviously an immensely talented filmmaker who knows how to manipulate his audiences. My only complaint is actually more a feeling of frustration that he doesn't allow his audiences to make up their own minds, instead of hearing his preaching.


That being said, Haggis makes some strides here as a director, as the film is never as intellectually and emotionally simplistic as Crash. As an avowed hater of that film, color me pleasantly surprised that In The Valley of Elah turned out as it did, an emotionally gut wrenching look at the emotions that a father must go through as he uncovers the secrets of his son's past. Jones shines here, as does Susan Sarandon as his wife, helping Haggis' writing achieve its natural grandeur, uninhibited by his simple direction. In the Valley of Elah is a defiantly angry film yet despite what some conservatives have suggested, is never anti-troop, merely anti-war.

It works well as a murder-mystery, perhaps better than it does as a political essay, but for fans that wish to watch it strictly as that will probably have difficulty. There is more here and it is not difficult to find, especially with the film's finale. If you haven't picked up Haggis' message by that point, it immediately becomes clear with a single image that will probably draw as much criticism as it will praise. For me, its over the top and manipulative but none the less powerful. In a time where our country continues to be dragged into a destructive situation that we unnecessarily began, sometimes it take such an obvious statement to make people stand up and notice both what we're involved in and what we've become. In the Valley of Elah is a memorable, at times searing investigation into our times and what it means to be a veteran of a conflict opposed by over half the country. See it with an open mind and you may find (regardless of your feelings about Crash) surprised and moved. I, for one, am glad that I did.

****