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Average User Score: 7 (29 sources)

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anorthview

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A very strong movie, directed well, and the acting was above par. There isn't a moment during this movie where I thought they should have done something else, it was wonderful to just be able to watch a movie and enjoy it. I had a wonderful...
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A very strong movie, directed well, and the acting was above par. There isn't a moment during this movie where I thought they should have done something else, it was wonderful to just be able to watch a movie and enjoy it. I had a wonderful viewing experience and will easily re-watch this during the week. However I must caution, it is not a high action movie, this is a great rainy day, up late movie looking for something to watch movie, perfect for those times when your just looking for something good to watch!

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Posted apr 28, 2008 3:27 pm pt

FilipHolm

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In The Valley Of Elah is a very good movie starring Tommy Lee Jones. Inspiered by actaual events the movie tells a story about a military veteran who searches for his son after coming back from Iraq. The story is very gripping and the script is...
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In The Valley Of Elah is a very good movie starring Tommy Lee Jones. Inspiered by actaual events the movie tells a story about a military veteran who searches for his son after coming back from Iraq. The story is very gripping and the script is incredibly well written. The acting is top class, Tommy Lee Jones makes his best performance in a long time and Charlize Theron is fantastic as well. The directing is very good, but there is nothing special realy, but it keeps you intrested through the movie. In The Valley Of Elah was nominated for 1 oscar for best Leading actor but didn´t win, it´s understanable because of Daniel Day-Lewis future legendary performance. But Jones deservs a lot of credit for this role. In The Valley Of Elah might not be a movie for everyone. It´s a character driven and gripping movie that should be remembered.

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Posted mar 14, 2008 9:29 pm pt

afq2846

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Jones plays a former military man who investigates the disappearance of his son. He goes to the base where his son was returned to from his tour of iraq. This movie shows what damage the war on iraq are doing on our kids. As he investigates the...
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Jones plays a former military man who investigates the disappearance of his son. He goes to the base where his son was returned to from his tour of iraq. This movie shows what damage the war on iraq are doing on our kids. As he investigates the disappearance he comes across an officer played by theron who tries to help him. Jones is wonderful in this movie as it theron. When the mystery is solved is kinda leaves you empty. Sad to see the damage to the kids coming back from this war. The topic of this movie is not exactly main stream and I can see why this was not a huge success. I recommend this movie because it is well done and acted even though the topic of this movie is not well excepted.

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Posted mar 14, 2008 9:17 am pt

bgriffithsps3

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Tommy Lee Jones plays the father of a young US soldier who has gone missing after returning home from Iraq. He teams up with local detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) to try and find out what has happened to his son but he keeps hitting...
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Tommy Lee Jones plays the father of a young US soldier who has gone missing after returning home from Iraq. He teams up with local detective Emily Sanders (Charlize Theron) to try and find out what has happened to his son but he keeps hitting dead-ends or his way is blocked by red-tape from the army. Most of this film plays out as a crime mystery but the second half also looks at how soldiers can suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. It will keep you interested throughout and Jones deserves his Oscar nomination for his role.

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Posted jan 28, 2008 4:55 am pt

jordinajamaica

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Amazing film! The voyage of an ex-army sargeant looking for his son. It shows a very interesting point of view of the war and their soldiers and the fact that everytime they are younger and affected by what they see. It made me cry and Tomy Lee...
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Amazing film! The voyage of an ex-army sargeant looking for his son. It shows a very interesting point of view of the war and their soldiers and the fact that everytime they are younger and affected by what they see. It made me cry and Tomy Lee Jones deserves the Oscar Nomination he received. It's a movie that don't leave you indifferent.

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Posted jan 24, 2008 5:33 pm pt

Yagr_Zero

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In the Valley of Elah is one of those movies that relies heavily upon the performances of its actors. These types of movie are becoming rare nowadays, but luckily, In the Valley of Elah is a gem.

Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize...
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In the Valley of Elah is one of those movies that relies heavily upon the performances of its actors. These types of movie are becoming rare nowadays, but luckily, In the Valley of Elah is a gem.

Starring Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron, In the Valley of Elah tells the unfortunate story of a man named Hank Deerfield (Jones) who finds out that his son has been murdered. His son is in the military and just came home from Iraq. Deerfield, being an ex-MP, vows to find out what really happened, and goes to enlist a detective (Theron). What they find isn't exactly plot shattering and neither are there any clever twists or so, but what fuels this movie are the fantastic performances and the overall atmosphere of the movie.

Tommy Lee Jones is fantastic. One of his best performances. He plays the father of a murdered military son greatly. You can't help but feel his pain and his repressed emotions of his character being in the military as well. Charlize Theron does a fantastic job as a single mother detective.

Let's not forget the overall mood of the movie. It's depressed, but it also shows a lot of Iraq and how it changes people; the horrible consequences of war. These are all done excellently through scrambled media. It just leaves you with a sense of dreamlessness.

Overall, In the Valley of Elah is a spectacular film. Not really for action buffs, but for those who are looking for powerful movies, In the Valley of Elah is it.

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Posted oct 14, 2007 8:33 pm pt

• [+] Entertainment Weekly
  
  100
  It's the first Hollywood Iraq movie to remind me of a Vietnam film like Coming Home, and it does more than disturb. It scalds, moves, and heals.

  by Owen Gleiberman | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Sun-Times
  
  100
  Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah is built on Tommy Lee Jones' persona, and that is why it works so well. The same material could have been banal or routine with an actor trying to be "earnest" and "sincere."

  by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »
• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  100
  For the most part it is an effective, disturbing and - a rarity for Haggis - subtle exploration of the stateside war story.

  by Tamara Straus | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Hollywood Reporter
  
  90
  A deeply reflective, quietly powerful work that is as timely as it is moving.

  by Michael Rechtshaffen | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  88
  Tommy Lee Jones is marvelous in the film. He has one scene in particular, a simple two-person encounter, that's as good as it gets in the realm of American screen acting.

  by Michael Phillips | Read Full Review »
• [+] USA Today
  
  88
  A rare blend of emotional content and intelligent material that makes it simultaneously gut-wrenching and thought-provoking.

  by Claudia Puig | Read Full Review »
• [+] New York Post
  
  88
  Theron is very good as a woman struggling for respect in a sexist environment. There are also small but telling performances by Susan Sarandon as Hank's worried wife, and Frances Fisher as a topless bartender who aids in the investigation.

  by Lou Lumenick | Read Full Review »
• [+] Portland Oregonian
  
  83
  Transcends politics and forces us to consider just what it is we ask of young people who answer the call to duty.

  by Shawn Levy | Read Full Review »
• [+] Film Threat
  
  80
  One of the best films of 2007 but I wonder if it's difficult message will turn away filmgoers. Haggis has constructed a very bitter pill that needs to be swallowed, especially by hardcore pro-war Americans.

  by Don R. Lewis | Read Full Review »
• [+] Empire
  
  80
  Tense, powerful and considerably less crass than "Crash," Elah may be jammed with ideas that don't all connect, but Jones' devastating performance makes this a compassionate and very human look at the Iraq conflict.

  by William Thomas | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New Yorker
  
  80
  No one could mistake the movie for a documentary, but the picture has some of the rectitude of a good documentary--a tone of plainness without flatness.

  by David Denby | Read Full Review »
• [+] Time
  
  80
  This is a sad, subtle and very good movie, designed not so much to make you think, but to make you feel the impact of large events on little lives.

  by Richard Schickel | Read Full Review »
• [+] Rolling Stone
  
  75
  The haunting, heart-piercing Elah isn't perfect. It's something better: essential.

  by Peter Travers | Read Full Review »
• [+] Seattle Post-Intelligencer
  
  75
  Haggis drops exclamation points after his symbolic gestures, but in the rush to drive home his message on the confused mission in Iraq he offers a queasy revisionism that all but denies the legacy of Vietnam. Considering Deerfield is a Vietnam vet, it feels doubly false.

  by Sean Axmaker | Read Full Review »
• [+] Philadelphia Inquirer
  
  75
  Haggis' earnest and eloquent film about the impact of the war in Iraq on U.S. soldiers, and by extension, their nation, is human-scaled. And as deep and harrowed as Jones' crevassed face.

  by Carrie Rickey | Read Full Review »