'Elah' a heartbreaking tale

By Tanner Boyd

Published Oct. 5, 2007

It was only a matter of time until George Clooney's "out of touch" Hollywood made a movie about the war in Iraq. Paul Haggis directs and co-writes "In the Valley of Elah," a movie based on the controversy surrounding the murder of Iraq war veteran Richard Davis. Although this film is being publicized as a statement on the war, Haggis' approach as a director might make the audience confused about exactly whom he is giving the finger to.

The film centers on Vietnam veteran and ex-military policemen Hank Deerfield (Tommy Lee Jones) and his investigation into what happened to his son, Mike (Jonathan Tucker). Mike has recently returned from duty in Iraq, only to have been reported absence without leave by the Army. Things get really complicated when Mike's body is found chopped up and burnt outside of an Army base.

The real story that inspired the movie is a heartbreaking tale about a father's search for answers and closure while dealing with a murdered son. Haggis turns the story into nothing short of a crime drama, with the father sleuthing as if it were a two-hour special of "CSI."

But it's the acting that drives this film. Jones' name will certainly be called this spring for an Oscar nod. He plays Deerfield so forlornly that you can't help but feel for him - and it's not just his basset hound eyes, either. He is a man who still folds his blankets according to military standards and calls topless waitresses "ma'am," yet he plays it with a realness and simplicity that keeps him likeable and relatable.

Charlize Theron also turns in a strong performance as the local detective who helps Jones. Her character, like Jones', is an ordinary person fighting in an unfair world. The homeliness "Elah" offers is one of its strongest points, and the film strikes its audience the hardest when it is showing the relations between its characters.

When the film isn't sticking to its strong character development, its implications as a form of protest are often uncertain. "Elah" isn't entering any uncharted territory by being a film about the psychological toll war takes on its warriors. The organization being protested is ambiguous, and the end of the film leaves the audience left wondering who is to blame after what transpires. The message of "Elah" is obviously a bleak outlook on the current state of affairs, but its standpoint is as uncertain as the end of the war itself.

"Elah" does deserve some credit; it is one of the first war films in which the family of the soldiers serves as the focal point. It's a little too early to pit this film as a symbol of our nation's feelings toward the war, but "Elah" has a much better chance of being remembered as Jones' swan song.