In the Valley of Elah

That violence changes men and women is known. That war changes men and women is known, with the “react or die” insistent urgency of combat significantly altering how human beings react in normal, everyday situations. Violence is closer to the surface, it doesn’t need much coaxing in order to come out and break the flesh. Human beings react different, more strongly to perceived threats, and are more willing to engage and to even kill than they would be had they not experienced the pressures of combat. The full scope of what is done to these men and women by going through the experience of war is unknown, but even a delicate scratching of the surface can be enlightening.

Paul Haggis, who brought us Crash, explores the surface with 2007’s brilliant In the Valley of Elah. This is a film that masks its surface with the bones of a political thriller, using a murder case based on actual events to explore various themes. The actual story was fictionalized and the names were changed, but the plot is closely related to the story of Richard T. Davis and his murder upon his return home from Iraq in 2003.

Tommy Lee Jones, who really had an excellent 2007, stars as Hank Deerfield. He is a retired Army military police sergeant and learns that his son Mike (Jonathan Tucker) has returned to America from Iraq. He’s gone AWOL, so Hank leaves home and his wife (Susan Sarandon) to try to locate his missing boy. Once he reaches the Army base, Hank is stonewalled by military personnel and discovers that, if he wants to make any progress, he must take matters into his own hands.

Hank decides to head to the local police but finds that they are also less than helpful. He tries to get the help of Detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron), but isn’t able to formulate much assistance. Eventually, a body is discovered dismembered and burnt on land that is supposedly owned by the military. The body belongs to Hank’s son and he is notified of the crime. Sanders, on the case, is reluctant to pass it off to the military. Hank is determined to find out the truth about his son and he joins with Detective Sanders to explore the intricate webbing of military and police jurisdiction. The trail takes him to some very dark places, needless to say.

In the Valley of Elah is less about the murder of Hank’s son and more about the system behind it. There is a situation that parallels the murder involving a young woman who does not believe her husband, a recently returned war veteran, is a danger to her and her son after he drowned their dog in the bathtub. The story unfolds in appalling fashion as we learn more about the intensification of violence and its crossings with the murder of Hank’s son. The idea of aggression lurking beneath the surface is explored, with the disastrous ignorance of clear warning signs leading to a deadly close.

Tommy Lee Jones, I’m convinced, is one of the greatest actors of our time. Here he drains himself of emotion and proceeds with arctic, cunning measures to find out what happens to his son. There are no maudlin scenes involving his character, there is no angry shouting match, there is nothing. Hank Deerfield is, instead, a man stripped of his character. As he finds out more about his son throughout the process of the investigation, he is seemingly unfazed by the shock. Jones more than deserved his Oscar nomination.

Theron, on the other hand, plays the firecracker. She doesn’t overdo it, but she is worthy and capable of outrage at these crimes. She represents our sentiments in a situation gone wrong. She represents our outrage at arming young men and women to kill others in so-called combat. She represents our feelings about what happens to these individuals when they return home. And she does all of this perfectly, never playing unfairly with the nuances of her role.

With In the Valley of Elah, Haggis has set the tone up properly and plays all of the other characters off of the central instrumentation. Here is a film, unlike Crash, that doesn’t manipulate and doesn’t force the issue. Instead, Elah works because it is disinterested and because we have a disinterested guide. With Jones as the lead performer here, Haggis is able to set his story up without a heavy hand. There is no musical manipulation, no striking imagery with which to remove the focus, and no parlour tricks. Indeed, In the Valley of Elah is on-point and stands as one of the best films of 2007.

Trailer: