
In Monroe, Tennessee, Hank Deerfield, an aging warrior, gets a call that his son, just back from 18 months' fighting in Iraq, is missing from his base. Hank drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to search. Within a day, the charred and dismembered body of his son is found on the outskirts of town. Deerfield pushes himself into the investigation, marked by jurisdictional antagonism between the Army and local police. Working mostly with a new detective, Emily Sanders, Hank seems to ... (Full plot summary below)
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In Monroe, Tennessee, Hank Deerfield, an aging warrior, gets a call that his son, just back from 18 months' fighting in Iraq, is missing from his base. Hank drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico, to search. Within a day, the charred and dismembered body of his son is found on the outskirts of town. Deerfield pushes himself into the investigation, marked by jurisdictional antagonism between the Army and local police. Working mostly with a new detective, Emily Sanders, Hank seems to close in on what happened. Major smuggling? A drug deal gone awry? Credit card slips, some photographs, and video clips from Iraq may hold the key. If Hank gets to the truth, what will it tell him?
Leave your thoughts about In the Valley of Elah.
| MaximPete HammondA heartbreaking story that is told with honor and intelligence in a stirring film that will haunt you long after seeing it. |
| Worcester Telegram & GazetteDaniel M. Kimmel...one of those near misses that have enough things going for it - like the performances of Jones and Theron - that you may be willing to forgive the films its flaws. |
| Aisle SeatMike McGranaghanAfter the potent final image of In the Valley of Elah faded to black, I had that very special tingle I get when I know I've just seen a great movie. |
| The Film YapNick RogersIt's a testament to "Elah's" stoicism that the heartbreak at how dishonesty undoes decades of dignity pierces without ever patronizing. It's an unforgettable, angry film that understands several simple thank-yous can trump eruptive, emotive speeches. |
| Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIt's the first Hollywood Iraq movie to remind me of a Vietnam film like Coming Home, and it does more than disturb. It scalds, moves, and heals. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertPaul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah is built on Tommy Lee Jones' persona, and that is why it works so well. The same material could have been banal or routine with an actor trying to be "earnest" and "sincere." |
| San Francisco ChronicleTamara StrausFor the most part it is an effective, disturbing and - a rarity for Haggis - subtle exploration of the stateside war story. |
| Cinema CrazedFelix Vasquez Jr.Will hopefully be appreciated years from now when the Iraq war is looked upon by many as a war that revealed to its citizens what America has truly become... |
| Arizona Daily StarPhil VillarrealIn the Valley of Elah is so majestic in its themes and searing in execution, it's hard to imagine Haggis won't figure prominently in the Oscar race once again. |
| Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)Josh LarsenHaggis may be our patron saint of noble cinema, yet he's cagier than such a title would suggest. |