But, while I remember the critical buzz, I don’t remember alot of box office bite for this movie. Perhaps it’s just difficult for people to go to the movies to pay to seea film about a war that has little popular support. Perhaps the title was too unfamiliar to grab attention. (TheValley of Elah is where David fought Goliath in the Bible story.) Or perhaps it just seemed like too muchof a downer in general.
If any of those reasons kept you away from this film in thetheatre, that’s a shame. It’s notonly very well-acted (and well-directed by Paul Haggis, who also wrote thescreenplay), but a deeply moving story. The basic facts are pretty simple. Jones is awakened by a call letting him know his son, Mike, is AWOL. Problem is, neither Hank nor his wifeJoan (Sarandon) even knew that Mike’s unit was back in the U.S.
Hank heads to Mike’s base right away, and starts askingquestions, including talking to the local police about Mike’s goingmissing. The detective he’sassigned to talk with is Emily Sanders (Theron). She’s got her own problems; she’s a single mom, her fellowdetectives don’t like her much because they think she slept her way into thejob (apparently with the chief, played by Josh Brolin), and now Hank’s on herto put more work into this case than seems necessary.
That last part changes when Mike’s dismembered, burned bodyis found. Obviously there’s foulplay involved, but who has jurisdiction? The military police or the local cops? Both end up working on it, and suspicion quickly falls onsome of Mike’s fellow soldiers.
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