At first I was a little skeptical of this movie. I'm a huge fan of Tommy Lee Jones, but I wondered how In the Valley of Elah was going to turn out.
Jones plays Hank Deerfield, a retired Army man, now working as a gravel hauler in Tennessee. Upon receiving a call that his son is AWOL after returning from Iraq he drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico to try and find him. While there he finds no real help from either the military or the local police. Not long after arriving his old-school, ex-military police skills are put to use in an attempt to uncover answers concerning his son's death and mutilation.
Charlize Theron plays Detective Emily Sanders, the local cop assigned to the case. She doesn't get a lot of respect from the other detectives because they believe she worked her way up through the ranks on her back. It doesn't take long before the viewer realizes this isn't the case for the single mom. With Jones' help, she's able to get to the bottom of this bizarre case and help find Jones closure through revealing the truth.
While the action is pretty slow in this movie based on real events, the acting is second-to-none. Jones and Theron make a good match that often doesn't see eye-to-eye much. It's obvious that there's little respect for Sanders from Deerfield, but by the end of the movie there's enough evidence that he has, at least, some appreciation for her efforts.
Lastly, the true message of this movie speaks to the difficulties soldiers returning from war face. Regardless of PTSD or the level of violence they must adjust to after returning from an environment where it's kill or be killed, this movie provides testimony to the hardships endured in war and their psychological effects.
Jones plays Hank Deerfield, a retired Army man, now working as a gravel hauler in Tennessee. Upon receiving a call that his son is AWOL after returning from Iraq he drives to Fort Rudd, New Mexico to try and find him. While there he finds no real help from either the military or the local police. Not long after arriving his old-school, ex-military police skills are put to use in an attempt to uncover answers concerning his son's death and mutilation.
Charlize Theron plays Detective Emily Sanders, the local cop assigned to the case. She doesn't get a lot of respect from the other detectives because they believe she worked her way up through the ranks on her back. It doesn't take long before the viewer realizes this isn't the case for the single mom. With Jones' help, she's able to get to the bottom of this bizarre case and help find Jones closure through revealing the truth.
While the action is pretty slow in this movie based on real events, the acting is second-to-none. Jones and Theron make a good match that often doesn't see eye-to-eye much. It's obvious that there's little respect for Sanders from Deerfield, but by the end of the movie there's enough evidence that he has, at least, some appreciation for her efforts.
Lastly, the true message of this movie speaks to the difficulties soldiers returning from war face. Regardless of PTSD or the level of violence they must adjust to after returning from an environment where it's kill or be killed, this movie provides testimony to the hardships endured in war and their psychological effects.
