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In The Valley Of Elah [2008]
from Optimum Home Entertainment
starring Charlize Theron, Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon, Josh Brolin, James Franco
directed by Paul Haggis

Features:

• PAL

Editorial Review:

Notch up another great role for Tommy Lee Jones here, as his starring performance in the lead of In The Valley Of Elah is a further acting performance of real merit. And this from the man who has already recently added the equally excellent No Country For Old Men to his CV.

In The Valley Of Elah, however, is a very different beast. It’s the new film from writer/director Paul Haggis, he who previously brought us Oscar-winner Crash, and Jones stars as Hank Deerfield, a man who decides to take matters into his own hands when he finds out that his son has disappeared. However, what complicates matters is that Deerfield’s son is a soldier on leave, and the military are proving to be little help in getting to the bottom of the mystery.

Yet there’s far more to In The Valley Of Elah than that, even though its narrative is interesting and surprising. No, there are real layers of drama here, and none more obvious than those surrounding Jones’ character (the lead actor, incidentally, snagged a richly-deserved Oscar nomination for his work here). He’s an understated, yet brilliant, creation, and one quite wonderfully brought to life. In conjunction with Susan Sarandon as his wife, and Charlize Theron as the detective he enlists the help of, In The Valley Of Elah emerges as one of the most unfairly overlooked films of recent times, and one that’s ripe for discovery on DVD. A superb piece of work. --Jon Foster

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

• Whodunit and whytheydunit
  This is an interesting film; a good solid whodunit combined with a bit of Americans-in-combat-angst. Usually such a mixture would result in a mess, but in this case they fit together wonderfully well. There are lots of good performances linked to two main ones from the female cop (Charlize Theron) and Tommy Lee Jones as the institutionalised ex-military policeman. If the film has a theme (other than just a damned good plot) it is to do with the lack of male communication. This is admirably communicated by... more info

• Super
  I loved this film, in spite of its depressing, nihilistic story. Perhaps it's a story that needed telling, but what I loved was the acting, directing and dialogues. A number of scenes were like stand-alone set-pieces which you could just follow from beginning to end, and at the end breath "wow"! Tommy Lee Jones gave a master-class in restrained, emotional acting, Susan Sarandon had a smallish part but was totally believable in it, and Charlize Theron, an actress I knew little of, beautifully portrayed a... more info

• War...whats it good for ? Absolutely nothing .
  Anyone who has seen director Paul Haggis Oscar winning movie Crash [2004] [2005] ( a worthy but heavy handed drama on race relations for those that haven't seen it) would be forgiven for expecting more of the same from In The Valley Of Elah. However writer and director Haggis has delivered a far more subtle examination of war and it's effects on those who have to fight them. In this he is helped considerably by terrific performances from a stellar cast.
  Retired army officer Hank Deerfield ( Tommy Lee... more info

• The effects of war
  Hank Deerfield (played by Tommy Lee Jones) is a retired veteran and military police officer searching for his son who has gone AWOL. Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) becomes interested in the case and starts helping Hank outside of her job. When Hank's son's body is found, the search suddenly turns into a search for the murderer.
  Tommy Lee Jones gives one of his best performances as a relentless, humourless driven father, who has not been the best father, but doesn't rest until he finds the... more info

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