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IMDb > In the Valley of Elah (2007)
In the Valley of Elah
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In the Valley of Elah (2007) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 31 | slideshow) Videos (see all 22)
In the Valley of Elah (2007) -- A career officer and his wife work with a police detective to uncover the truth behind their son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.
In the Valley of Elah (2007) -- Clip: Both my boys
In the Valley of Elah (2007) -- MyMovies.Net - Exclusive interview (WMV)
In the Valley of Elah (2007) -- New film, 'In the Valley of Elah,' starring Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon, and Charlize Theron examines the effects of war on veterans.
In the Valley of Elah (2007) -- A career officer and his wife work with a police detective to uncover the truth behind their son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq.

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Overview

User Rating:
7.5/10   24,806 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers (WGA):
Paul Haggis (screenplay)
Mark Boal (story) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for In the Valley of Elah on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
28 September 2007 (USA) more
Tagline:
Sometimes finding the truth is easier than facing it. more
Plot:
A retired military investigator works with a police detective to uncover the truth behind his son's disappearance following his return from a tour of duty in Iraq. full summary | full synopsis
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(23 articles)
Geek Deal: Up To 60% Off Blu-Ray Movies
 (From Slash Film. 26 December 2009, 10:53 PM, PST)

Hollywood Politics: Up in the Air
 (From Huffington Post. 21 December 2009, 8:43 AM, PST)

User Reviews:
Quietly effective more (188 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Tommy Lee Jones ... Hank Deerfield

Charlize Theron ... Det. Emily Sanders

Jason Patric ... Lt. Kirklander

Susan Sarandon ... Joan Deerfield

James Franco ... Sgt. Dan Carnelli

Barry Corbin ... Arnold Bickman

Josh Brolin ... Chief Buchwald

Frances Fisher ... Evie

Wes Chatham ... Cpl. Steve Penning

Jake McLaughlin ... Spc. Gordon Bonner

Mehcad Brooks ... Spc. Ennis Long

Jonathan Tucker ... Spc. Mike Deerfield

Wayne Duvall ... Detective Nugent
Victor Wolf ... Pvt. Robert Ortiez

Brent Briscoe ... Detective Hodge
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Additional Details

Also Known As:
Death and Dishonor (USA) (working title)
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MPAA:
Rated R for violent and disturbing content, language and some sexuality/nudity.
Runtime:
121 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin, Barry Corbin and Kathy Lamkin also starred in No Country for Old Men (2007) the same year. The two movies both have Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA as shooting location and Roger Deakins as director of photography. more
Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: After the crime scene is handed to the army, Hank Deerfield is seen rolling out of bed, a shot of his feet landing on the carpet shows pressure imprints of socks on his ankles indicating he had just removed socks, which as he just rolled out of bed wouldn't be the case. more
Quotes:
Hank Deerfield: [looks at flag] Just leave it like that, okay? more
Movie Connections:
Soundtrack:
Till I Get It Right more

FAQ

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107 out of 127 people found the following review useful.
Quietly effective, 24 September 2007
Author: Tony43 from Los Angeles

The big movies about the Vietnam war -- Apocalypse Now, Deer Hunter, Full Metal Jacket -- didn't reach the screen until about five years after the war ended. But movies dealing with Iraq and terrorism are cropping up all over even as this war still rages.

What exactly that means is hard to know, but it would seem to indicate that no matter which side of the issue they come down on, the filmmakers are willing to risk alienating about half the potential audience in an America more polarized today than at any point in our history.

"In the Valley of Elah" treads lightly on the politics for most of the movie, concentrating on the unfolding mystery of what happened to a young soldier who vanishes shortly after returning from a tour of duty in Iraq. Looking for answers are his father, a former sergeant in the Army's Criminal Investigation Division, and a young female civilian detective, who gets involved in the case, gets bounced off in a jurisdictional dispute, but winds up back on the case when its determined the crime took place off military property.

While director Paul Haggis gets uniformly good performances out of all the characters, the movie belongs to Tommy Lee Jones as the grieving father and Charlize Theron as the determined detective. Both turn in outstanding performances. Jones shines, playing a man who has spent his life holding in his emotions and can't change now, even as his world falls apart. Theron radiates strength as a woman trying to survive in a sexist police department where all her male colleagues are certain she slept her way into her detective's job. That is somewhat important to the story, because the movie provides a look into the lower class white community that provides the bulk of the recruits in the all volunteer army.

None of this really deals with the politics of the war, though, and it is not until the very end of the film that politics come into play, and even there, it is handled with great care. The message is more about the kind of war America finds itself fighting today and what that type of combat does to the men who engage in it. Unlike world wars one and two, Vietnam and Iraq are not wars between easily recognized enemies. We are not battling the Germans or the Japanese. In both Nam and Iraq, Americans find it is difficult to tell friend from foe. That means they often must make snap decisions that sometimes determine whether they themselves live or die. Needless to say, their decisions also determine the fate of the people in the sights of their weapons..

"In the Valley of Elah" does an excellent job of showing that post traumatic stress syndrome is not an oddity, but rather a growing problem in an army of young men whose job requires them to be quick on the trigger.

Every American should see this movie and then think long and hard about it.

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WWII: This would be treason. blisteringlogic
Question Spoilers kdet
Last scene (Spoiler) dewdadew44
Difficult Questions on War by an Asian arno-40
Nod to Chinatown? funkydevil
Spliced Image? Help! Delshak
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